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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

©i^up. GcpttriAW l|0.--_-._. 

Shelf..3-€- 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




DAVID AND JONATHAN. 



Bible Pictures 



AND 



STORIES 



By D. J. D. 

WITH NUMEROUS FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 



W. J. WEBB, L. HUARD, and others. 







PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY AIvTEMXJS 

507, 509, 511 AND 513 Cherry St. 



my/y 



\ 






3q> 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1893, 
By HENKY ALTEMUS. 



Henry Altemus 

Bookbinder 

Philadelphia. 



CONTENTS. 



Adam and Eve ii 

Cain and Abel 12 

The Flood . 14 

The Tower of Babel 16 

Lot's Flight frOxM Sodom 18 

Abraham and Isaac . . . . . . . . . . 20 

The Story of Rebekah 22 

Joseph and his Brethren . . ^ 26 

The Finding of Moses .......... 32 

The Flight from Egypt 34 

Moses Striking the Rock 36 

The Ten Commandments ......... 38 

Bezaleel and Aholiab .......... 40 

The Brazen Serpent 42 

Passage of the Jordan 44 

The Captain of the Lord's Host . 46 

How Jericho was Captured . . . 48 

Achan's Sin 50 

The Altar on Mount Ebal 52 

The Cities of Refuge 54 

Joshua's Exhortation . . 56 

Gideon and the Fleece . . . . . . . . . 58 

The Defeat of the Midianites 60 

The Death of Samson 62 



IV 



Contents. 



Ruth and Naomi . 

BoAZ AND Ruth 

Hannah Praying before the 

Eli and Samuel 

Death of Eli and his Sons 

Playing on the Harp before 

David and Goliath 

Nathan Reproving the King 

David and Arauxah 

Elijah Fed by Ravens . 

Ploughing in Canaan 

The Shunammite's Son . 

The Little Captive Maid 

Jonah at Nineveh 

Hezekiah and Sennacherib 

The Brave Hebrew Boys 

Daniel and the Lions . 

Esther before the King 

David and Jonathan 



Lord 



Saul 



64 
66 
68 
70 
72 
74 
76 
7S 
80 
82 
84 
86 
88 
90 
92 

94 

96 

98 

100 



NKW TrKSTANlE^NT. 



The Wise Men's Visit 103 

The Angel's Tidings . . . o 106 

Jesus in the Temple 108 

The Wonderful Draught of Fishes . . . . . . .110 

The House Built upon the Sand . 112 

Healing the Centurion's Servant 114 

Anointing the Feet of Jesus 116 



Contents. 



PAGE 

The Rich Fool ........... ii8 

The Unfruitful Tree 120 

Sowing the Seed . . . . , . . . . . .122 

The Enemy Sowing Tares 124 

The Parable of the Leaven 126 

Seeking for Hidden Treasure * . 128 

The Pearl of Great Price .130 

The Parable of the Net . . . 132 

The Man Possessed by Devils . . . . . . . .134 

Curing the Incurable . . . . . . . . . .136 

Jairus' Daughter 138 

The Two Blind Men 140 

Feeding Five Thousand ......... 142 

Christ Walking on the Sea ........ 144 

The Woman of Canaan . . . . . . . . .146 

Peter and the Tribute Money ........ 148 

The Good Samaritan . . . . . . . . . .150 

Importunity Rewarded. . . . . . . . . .152 

The Unmerciful Servant . .154 

The Good Shepherd . .156 

The Lost Piece of Money . . . . . . . . .158 

The Prodigal Son .......... 160 

Peter's Wife's Mother Cured 162 

The Unjust Steward . 164 

The Rich Man and the Beggar ........ 166 

"Avenge Me of My Adversary" 168 

The Pharisee and the Tax-Gatherer . . . . . .170 

The Laborers in the Vineyard 172 

The Barren Fig Tree 174 

The Wicked Husbandman 176 



VI 



Contents. 



Without the Wedding Garment 
The Foolish Virgins 
The Parable of the Talents 
Man with the Withered Hand 
Jesus Ascends to Heaven 
The Philippian Jailer . 
Timothy and His Mother Eunice 
Christ Blessing the Children 



178 
180 
182 
184 
186 
188 
190 
192 



Old Testament 



BIBLE PICTURES AND STORIES. 



ADAM AND EVE. 




N the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. 
He also made the sun, moon, and stars; trees, flowers, 
and all vegetable life ; and all animals, birds, fishes, 
and insects. Then God made man. The name of the lirst man 
was Adam, and the lirst woman was Eve. Both were placed in 
a beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden, where tliey might 
have been happy continually had they not sinned. But God 
forbade them to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil. Satan tempted Eve to take the fruit of this 
tree. She ate, and gave to Adam, and he ate also. Thus they 
sinned, and sin came into the world. 

Then God called to Adam and said, "Where art thou?'' 
Before this, Adam and Eve had been happy when God was 
near, now they were afraid. Why ? Because they knew they 
had done wrong. So sin makes us afraid of God. 

God rebuked them for the evil they had done ; and then 
drove them out of the Garden of Eden, placing an angel to 
keep watch over the gate so that they could not return. 

11 



CAIN AND ABEL. 




HAT a sad story the Bible tells us in the fourth chapter 
of Genesis ! Cain and Abel were brothers, the sons 
of Adam and Eve. How they should have loved each 
other ! Yet we find that Cain killed Abel. Why did he do 
this ? 

Cain was a husbandman, Avho tilled the ground ; Abel was 
a shepherd, who kept sheej). One day each offered a sacrifice 
to God. Cain brought fruit, and Abel brought a lamb. God 
accepted Abel's offering, but not Cain's. Why? Well, I am 
not (juite sure, but 1 think it was because Abel offered his 
sacrifice according as God had commanded, and had faith in a 
promised Saviour ; but Cain simply acknowledged God's 
goodness in giving him the fruits of the earth. God had 
probably told them, too, that when they came to worship Him, 
they were to bring a lamb or a kid as a sacrifice for their sins ; 
this Abel had done, but Cain had not. Cain was angry 
because God had accepted Abel's offering and not his ; and he 
hated his brother Abel. 

God knew the evil thought Cain had towards his brother, 
and asked him, "Why art thou wroth?" and said, "If thou 
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted ? " But Cain did still 
more wickedly. When out in the field he killed his brother. 
Was it not a cruel deed ? They were alone when this murder 
was committed, yet one eye saw it all. God saw it, and 
said to Cain: "Where is Abel, thy brother?" We cannot 
sin without God knowing it ! Cain told God a lie. He 
answered, " I know not." But he did know. God w^as 
angry with Cain for his sin, and sent him as a fugitive and 
vagabond to wander on the earth. 

12 




ABEL S SACRIFICE. 



THE FLOOD. 




BOUT fifteen liimdred years had passed since Cain slew 
Abel, during which time man had become more and 
more wicked. At length God saw ''that the wickedness 
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of 
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.'^ Then 
God said, " I will destroy man whom I have created from the 
face of the earth." 

But one man was righteous and served God. His name 
was Noah. God told him that the world would be drowned 
by a flood because of the wickedness of the people, and 
commanded him to build a great ark to float upon the waters. 
In this ark God promised to preserve alive Noah and his 
family ; and also two of each of every living thing on the earth 
— animals, birds, and creeping things. All the rest were to 
die. 

Noah built the ark as God commanded. It took him a 
great many years, during which time the people were warned 
to forsake their sins and -turn to God, but they did not do so. 
At last the ark was finished, and Noah, with his wife, and his 
sons with their wives, and the animals, birds, and creeping 
things, as God had commanded, all entered into it. What a 
long procession it must have been ! Then God shut them in, 
and they dwelt in safety while the rain came down, and the 
w^aters rose up and covered the earth. All were drowned 
except those in the ark. 

A year afterwards, when the waters were dried up, Noah, 
and all that had been with him, left the ark. Then Noah 
built an altar, and offered sacrifices to God, in thankfulness for 
God's goodness to him and his family. 

14 




ENTERING THE ARK. 



THE TOWEE OF BABEL. 




ABEL means confusion. Was it not a strange name 
to give a tower? How did it get this? 

After Noah left the ark, God made a promise to him 
that He would no more destroy the earth by a flood, and blessed 
him and his sons. Li course of time many little children were 
born, baby boys and girls, who grew up to be fathers and 
mothers having children also. In this manner a great many 
people dwelt again on the earth. For more than one hundred 
years they all spoke the same language, and as, in course of time, 
they journeyed onward, they came to a large plain in the land 
of Shinar, near to where Babylon was afterwards built. Heie 
they said they would remain and build a great city, with a 
high tower ascending to heaven. 

Kow God, when he blessed Noah, had said to him, "Be 
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth; " meaning that 
the people were to scatter abroad, so that the world might 
become inhabited again. But these men wanted to keep 
together, and found one great empire, the centre of which 
should be the great city with the lofty tower. So they made 
bricks and burnt them, and took a kind of pitch for mortar, 
and began to build. Some learned men say they took three 
years in getting the materials, and were twenty-two years 
building the tower. It was very great and high, but it was 
nevpr finished. The people did wickedly in building it, and 
God, who saw all they were doing, confounded their language, 
so that one could not understand another. Thus they left off 
building the tower, and that is why it is called Babel. Then 
God scattered them abroad to re-people the earth. 

16 




BUILDING THE TUWER OF IJABEL. 



LOT'S FLIGHT FROM SODOM. 




N" Palestine, the land in which Jesus dwelt when He 
was upon earth, there is an inland sea, called the 
Dead Sea. Its waters are very salt, and no trees 
grow upon its shores. Many long years before the birth of 
Jesus Christ, two cities stood upon the plain which the 
waters of the Dead Sea now cover. These cities were named 
Sodom and Gomorrah. Their inhabitants were very wicked, 
so God destroyed their cities by raining brimstone and lire 
upon them. 

Before God destroyed these cities. He sent two angels to 
Lot, Abraham's nephew, who dwelt in Sodom, commanding him 
to flee from it, taking liis family with him. The angels 
hastened him, saying, "Arise, take thy wife, and thy two 
daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the 
iniquity of the city." Then the angels took all four by the 
hand and led them out, and said to Lot, "Escape for thy life; 
look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain ; escape 
to the mountain, lest thou be consumed." 

Lot pleaded that he might take refuge in a little city, 
named Zoar, not very far distant ; and having obtained the 
angels' permission to do so, he took his wife and daughters, 
and hastened away. In our picture we see him and his 
daughters entering Zoar, and Sodom burning in the distance — 
but what is that strange figure standing on the plain? Alas! 
that is Lot's wife ; the angel had commanded them that none 
were to look back, but she did so, and was turned into a pillar 
of salt. 

Lot did wrong in dwelling in such a wicked city as Sodom, 
and lost all his property when he escaped for his life. 

18 




LOT ENTERING ZOAR. 



ABKAHAM ANJJ ISAAC. 




|BEAHAM feared God and obeyed His commandments; 

and God promised to bless Abraham very greatly. 

He gave him riches in cattle, and silver, and gold ; 
and said that the land of Canaan should belong to him and 
his descendants. God also gave him a son in his old age, 
whom he loved very dearly and named Isaac. But God 
intended to try Abraham, to see if he loved Him above all 
else. 

One day God told Abraham to take his son Isaac, and to 
journey into the land of Moriah ; there to build an altar and 
offer Isaac as a sacrifice upon it. It was a strange command, 
but Abraham knew that God would not bid him do what was 
wrong, and believed that even if he slew his son, God was able 
to raise him to life again. So he rose early in the morning, 
saddled his ass, took two of his young men, and w^ood for the 
lire; and then, accompanied by Isaac, started on his journey. 
On the third day they came near the place God had pointed 
out, and Abi'aham left the young men with the ass, while he 
and his son journeyed up the mountain alone. As they went 
along, Isaac — who carried the wood, w^hile his father carried 
the knife and the fire, said: ''My father." And Abraham 
replied, "Here am I, my son." Then Isaac said: "Behold the 
fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering ? " 
Abraham answered: "My son, God will provide Himself a 
lamb for a burnt offering." 

The altar was built, Isaac w^as bound and laid upon it, 
and Abraham's arm w^as uplifted to strike the blow that w^as 
to take his son's life away. Then God called to Abraham, 
"Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything: 

20 




ABRAHAM AND ISAAC. 



unto liim ; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that 
thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me." 
Abraham looked up, and behind him saw a ram which was 
caught in a thicket by its horns; this he took and offered as a 
sacrifice to God. 

So God tried Abraham; and also Himself provided the 
lamb for the burnt offering, as Abraham had said. 



THE STORY OF REBEKAH. 




HEN Abraham had grown old, he desired that his son, 
Isaac, should take a wife. But he did not wish him 
to choose one from among the women of Canaan, for 
they worshipped idols. So he called his oldest servant, and 
commanded him to make a journey to Abraham's own country, 
and there to choose a wife for Isaac. Then the man took ten 
camels, together with food and other goods for the journey, and 
set out for the city of Nahor. When he came to the w^alls of 
the city he spied a w^ell, and, as it was evening, the young 
women were coming out to draw water. Then he asked God to 
help him to choose a wife for Isaac, saying, ''Let it come to 
pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, 'Let down thy 
pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink,' and who shall reply, 
' Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also ; ' let her be the 
one Thou hast chosen for Thy servant Isaac." 

99 




REBEKAH GIVING DRIItk TO ABRAHAM'S SERVANT. 



Before he had done speaking, there came out a beautiful 
young woman, whose name was Eebekah. She was the 
gi'and-daughtqr of Nahor, Abraham's brother. She carried a 
pitcher upon her shoulder, and went down to the well and 
tilled it. Then Abraham's servant ran to her and asked her 
for a drink from her pitcher. She said, "Drink, my lord,'' 
and held the pitcher for him, and afterwards drew wafer for 
his camels also. Then he took a golden jewel and a pair 
of gold bracelets, and put them upon her, and asked whose 
daughter she was, and if her father could lodge him and his 
company. When she told him who she was, he was glad, and 
worshipped God, for he was sure then that he had been led to 
the house of Abraham's brother. 

Then Eebekah called out her friends, and they took the 
man in to lodge him for the night, and set food before him. 
But he would not eat until he had told them his errand, and 
how he believed God had chosen Eebekah for Isaac's wife. 
He then asked the parents to say whether they would give 
their dauditer or not, but thev said: "It has been ordered bv 
God; we cannot give or refuse her. Eebekah is before you. 
Take her and go. Let her be Isaac's wife, as the Lord hath 
spoken." 

When the man heard these words, he again praised God ; 
and then he brought out rich clothing, and jewels of gold and 
silver, and gave them to Eebekah. He also gave presents 
to her mother and brother. When they asked Eebekah if 
she would go with the man, she said "Yes," and took leave 
of her friends, who blessed her. Then, with her nurse and 
her maids, she rode upon the camels, and followed the man, 
for she believed that so God had ordered it. 

Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi, and one evening he 
walked into the fields to meditate. As he lifted up his eyes 

24 




REBEKAH JOURNEYING TO ISAAC. 



he saw the company of camels coming towards him. At the 
same time, Eebekah lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac. When 
the man told her it was his master Isaac, she alighted from 
the camel, and covered her face with a veil, according to the 
custom of the East. When the man told Isaac all he had 
done, Isaac was pleased, and welcomed Rebekah, and gave 
her the tent that had been his mother's. And she became his 
wife. 



JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN. 




OW wonderful is the way in which God works for those 
who fear Him ! The history of Joseph teaches us 
this truth. 

Joseph had one younger and ten elder brothers. The 
name of the younger brother was Benjamin. Jacob was the 
father of them all ; and Rachel was the mother of Joseph and 
Benjamin. Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, 
and made bim a coat of many colours ; but his elder brothers 
hated him, and one day, when far away from home, proposed to 
kill him. They cast him into a pit instead, and afterwards 
sold him as a slave to some merchants who were travelling 
from Gilead to Egypt. When they returned to their father, 
they took Joseph's coat of many colours, which they had 
dipped in blood, and brought it to Jacob, saying: "This have 
we found : know now if it be thy son's coat or no." Jacob knew 
the coat ; and thought Joseph had been killed by some wild 
beast, and mourned for him greatly. 

2S 




THE MEETING OF ISAAC AND REBEKAH. 



The merchants carried Joseph into Egypt, and sold him 
to one of the king's officei's, named Potiphar. But, though a 
slave, he was not forsaken by God. IS'o, God was with him, 
and made all that he did to prosper. His master placed him 
over all his house, but his mistress wanted him to commit a 
great sin. When he refused, she accused him unjustly to his 
master, and Potiphar had him cast into prison. 

God was with Joseph in the prison, and gave him such 
favour with the keeper that he set him over all the other 
prisoners. Among them were two; one who had been the 
king's butler, and the other his baker. Both had dreams 
which troubled them much, but Joseph was enabled by God 
to interpret their dreams for them. By-and-by Pharaoh, tlie 
king, dreamed a dream. He was standing on the banks of a 
river, and saw seven fat cows come up out of the water and 
feed in a meadow ; afterwards seven very lean cows came up 
and devoured the fat ones. Then Pharaoh awoke; but he 
dieamed again, and saw that seven very poor ears of corn 
devoured seven that were full and good. In the morning he 
w^as greatly troubled. What could the dreams mean ? He 
called for the magicians and the Avise men, but they could not 
tell. At last it was told him how Joseph had interpreted 
the dreams in the prison ; so he sent for Joseph, who came 
from the prison, and stood before the king. 

Pharaoh said, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is 
none that can interpret it; and I have heard say of thee, that 
thou canst understand a dream to interpret it." Joseph 
answered, ''It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an 
answer of peace." Then Joseph told Pharaoli that the dreams 
had been sent by God, to show liim that after seven years 
of great plenty had passed tliere would come seven yeai's 
of famine. He also advised Pharaoh to lay up corn in cities 

28 




JOSEPH IJEI-OKE PHAUAOH. 



dui'ing the years of plenty, so that the people might be fed 
during the years of famine. Pharaoh saw what great wisdom 
God had given Joseph, and made him ruler over all the land 
of Egypt. Tlie corn was stored up ; and after the years of 
plenty the famine came. 

During all this time Jacob and his sons had been dwell- 
ing in Canaan ; where, through the famine, they were now in 
want of food. So Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy corn. 
The Bible tells us, in the book of Genesis, how they came 
to Egypt, and all that befell them there ; and how at last 
Joseph, the ruler of the mighty kingdom, made himself 
known to them as the brother they had cruelly sold for a 
slave. But he forgave them, and sent to fetch his father Jacob, 
saying that all were to come into Egypt, where he would 
provide for them. 

Jacob could not at first believe the good news his sons 
brought; but when he saw the waggons which Joseph had 
sent to carry him and the little ones, he said, "It is enough ; 
Joseph my son is yet alive ; I will go and see liim before I 
die." So he journeyed to Egypt, with his sons, and all that 
he had ; and as he drew near Joseph went to meet him. 
When Joseph met his father, he fell on his neck, and wept 
there. And Jacob said, "Now let me die, since I have seen 
thy face, because thou art yet alive." He was so full of joy 
that it seemed to him there was nothing else worth living for. 
Afterwards Joseph presented his father to Pharaoh ; and Jacob 
blessed Pharaoh ; who allowed him and his family to dwell 
in the land of Goshen. 



30 




JACOl^ PRESENTED TO PHARAOH. 



THE FINDING OF MOSES. 




jHARAOH, becoming alarmed at the increasing power 
and numbers of the Israelites in Egypt, ordered that 
every male child who might l)e born to them should 
be cast into the river, and drowned. But the wife of a man 
named Levi felt that she could not give up her babe, and for 
three months she hid him. When she could hide him no 
longer, she prepared a basket of rushes, and coated it with 
pitch, so that it would float upon the river and keep out the 
water. In tliis ark she placed her infant son, and hid the ark 
among the flags and bulrushes on the river-bank, and set the 
child's sister to watch it. 

Now^ it happened that the daughter of Pharaoh came with 
her maidens to bathe in the river ; and when she saw the basket 
she sent one of her maids to fetch it. And when she looked 
at the child he wept, and she had compassion for him, and 
said, "This is one of the Hebrew^s' children." Then the child's 
sister came forward and said to Pharaoh's daughter, " Shall I 
call to thee a Hebrew woman that she may nurse the child for 
thee ? " And when the princess said, " Go ! " she, the maid, 
went and called her own mother, to whom Pharaoh's daughter 
said, " Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will give 
thee thy wages." And the woman took the child and nursed 
him. And when he had grown, his mother took him to the 
princess, who adopted him as her son, and called his name 
Moses, which means drawn out, because she took him from 
the water. Afterwards he grew to be a great man : he was 
learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and we are told, 
"he was mighty in words and deeds." 

32 




THE FINDING OF MOSES. 



THE FLIGHT FROM EGYPT. 




HEN Moses was forty years old he had to flee from 
Egypt. He went to Midian, where he dwelt for forty 
years ; at the end of which time God appeared to 
liim, and instructed him to return to Egypt; where he was 
appointed by God to lead the Israelites from bondage to the 
land of Canaan. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, king of 
Egypt, and delivered to him God's command to let the people 
of Israel go ; telling him that if he disobeyed terrible plagues 
would come upon his land. Pharaoh hardened his heart 
against God, and refused to let the people go ; so ten dreadful 
jjlagues were sent, the last of which was that the tirstborn of 
every Egyptian should die, whether it were man or beast. 
But not a single Israelite was to suffer harm. This plague 
God said should come in the night ; when an angel would pass 
through the land, destroying the Egyptians but sparing the 
Israelites. 

Each family of the Israelites was commanded, on the 
evening that God had appointed, to kill a lamb, and to dip a 
bunch of hyssop in its blood, sprinkling this blood upon the 
top and side posts of the door. All the houses thus marked 
God said would be spared when the destroying angel passed 
through the land. In the night, while the Israelites were, 
according to God's command, eating the lambs that had been 
slain, all ready to dei)art, a great cry arose among the 
Egyptians. In every house, from the palace downwards, the 
eldest child lay dead. 

Then the Egyptians arose, and thrust the Israelites out; 
and they left Egypt, and journeyed towards the Red Sea. 

34 




SPRINKLING THE BLOOD. 



MOSES STRIKI^^G THE ROCK. 




FTER the Israelites left Egypt they crossed the Red 
Sea, whose waters divided so that they passed through 
on dry land. Then they travelled through the wilder- 
ness toward Mount Sinai. Passing onward, they wanted water 
and food ; and forgetting the great things God had already done 
for them, they began to murmur. At a place called Marah 
they found the water too bitter to drink ; so they grumbled, 
saying to Moses, "What shall we drink?" He asked God; 
who showed him a tree, which, when cast into the water, made 
it sweet. 

Next the people murmured for food, and God sent them 
manna, which they gathered every day except the Sabbath; 
but with all God's care and kindness the Israelites continued 
to grumble whenever any difficulty arose. Journeying forward, 
they entered another wilderness, called the Desert of Sin, and 
came to a place named Rephidim, where they found no water. 
They were very thirsty, and came to Moses murmuring and 
saying, ''Give us water that we may drink." How could 
Moses do that? Hb was grieved with them, and said, "Why 
chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?" But 
the people grew so angry that they were ready to stone him. 
Then Moses told God all the trouble, and God showed him 
what to do. He was to go before the people, taking the 
elders of Israel Avith him, and his rod, and God would stand 
before him on a rock among the mountains of Horeb. This 
rock he was to strike, when water would gush forth. 

Moses did as God commanded. He w^ent forward with 
the elders, struck the rock with his rod ; and the pure, clear 
water gushed out, so that all the people were able to drink. 

36 




STRIKING THE ROCK. 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



s 



HE Israelites journeyed onward and encamped before 
Mount Sinai. There God talked with Moses, and 
instructed him to remind the people of the great 
things He had done for them; and to say that if they obeyed 
Him, and kept His covenant, they should be a peculiar treasure 
to Him above all people, and a holy nation. 

When the people heard God's message, they answered, 
"All that the Lord hath spoken w^e will do." How happy 
would they have been if they had always kept this promise ! 
But, alas ! they did not do so ; and great punishments came 
upon them in consequence. 

God also said that on the third day He would descend 
upon Mount Sinai; and commanded the people to prepare 
themselves for that great and solemn event. None were to 
approach the mount, for if they did so they would die. On 
the third day, according to the command, the people gathered 
before Mount Sinai. A thick cloud covered the mountain, 
which smoked and quaked, and there were thunders and 
lightnings; a trumpet also sounded exceeding loud, so that all 
the people trembled. Then God spake from the midst of the 
fire, and gave the people the Ten Commandments. These you 
will find in the twentieth chapter of Exodus; and little 
folks with sharp eyes can read them in our picture. 

We are told that "all the people saw the thunderings, 
and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the 
mountain smoking;" and when they saw it they were so 
much afraid that they stood afar oif. How holy is God's law, 
and how careful should we be to obey it ! 

38 




THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB. 




FTER God had given the Ten Commandments, He 
called Moses up into the mountain; where he 
remained forty days and forty nights. During that 
time, God told him to speak to the Israelites, asking them to 
give gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, line linen, oil, precious 
stones, and other things, to make a tabernacle or sanctuary, 
where God would dwell among them. God showed Moses the 
pattern of this tabernacle, with its coverings, its holy place 
and most holy place, its ark of the covenant with tlie 
cherubim s and mercy-seat, its table for the shewbread, golden 
candlestick, and altar of incense, and the garments for Aaron 
and his sons, etc. ; everything was accui^ately described by 
God. Then God instructed Moses as to who could do the work 
He had commanded to be done, and named two to whom He 
had given special wisdom and skill : these two were Bezaleel 
and Aholiab. 

When Moses came down from the mountain he called 
Aaron and all the people of Israel, and told them what God 
had commanded. The people willingly brought gifts, till more 
than enough was provided. Tlien Bezaleel and Aholiab, and 
other wise-hearted men, worked diligently until the tabernacle 
and all things belonging to it were made exactly as God had 
instructed. Some worked in gold and silver, others in brass 
and wood ; wise women spun cloth of blue, purple and 
scarlet, and fine linen ; precious stones were set for the high 
priest's ephod and breastplate; and, at last, all was finished. 
Then we are told " Moses did look upon all the work, and, 
behold, they had done' it as the Lord had commanded." Then 
Moses blessed them. 

40 




BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB. 



THE BRAZEN SEKPE^N^T. 




|ESIJS CHRIST says that ''As Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of 
Man be lifted up/' What did Jesus mean? 

Nearly forty years had passed since God gave His law 
from Mount Sinai ; and frequently the people had sinned during 
that time. Through their disobedience they w^ere compelled to 
wander in the wilderness for many long years, instead of going 
straight to Canaan. While thus wandering they passed round 
the land of Edom, and became grieved and impatient because 
of the dreariness and difficulty of the way. They murmured 
against God and against Moses, and said, " Wherefore have ye 
brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness ? for there 
is no bread, neither is there any water ; and our soul loatheth 
this light bread." They meant the manna which God gave 
them daily. 

God allowed fiery serpents to come among the people 
because of their sin, which bit them, and many died. Then 
they came to Moses, saying, "We have sinned . . . pray 
unto the Lord that He take away the serpents from us." 
Moses did so; and God told him to make a serpent of brass 
and to put it on a pole ; and said that all who looked to the 
serpent should live. The serpent of brass could not heal them, 
but God healed them as they obeyed his command to look to 
the serpent. It was look and live. 

Now^ I think we see what Jesus means. God has said 
that all must die because of sin; but those who look to Jesus 
and trust in Him will have their sins pardoned, and will live 
with Him in glory for ever. 

42 




THE BRAZEN SERPENT, 



THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN, 




jAVING wandered for forty years in the wilderness, the 
Israelites drew near to the river Jordan, at a place 
opposite Jericho. Moses w^as dead, and Joshua was 
now the leader of the host. God told him that the time had 
come when the people of Israel were to enter Canaan ; to which 
land they had all this long time been travelling, but which 
previously they had not been permitted to enter on account of 
their sin. A description of this sin is given in the Bible, in 
the fourteenth chapter of Numbers. 

But the people w^ere now to cross the Jordan and enter 
Canaan. They were a very great multitude, and the river lay 
before them. How were they to cross ? God told them ! 
He commanded Joshua that the priests were to take the ark 
of the covenant and to go before the people; who were to 
follow a short distance behind. Could the priests and the 
people walk across the deep water ? No. But as soon as the 
priests reached the liver, and their feet were dipped in the 
water, God divided the Jordan into two, leaving dry ground 
for the Israelites to cross upon. 

The priests carried the ark into the middle of the bed of 
the river and then stood still, and all the people passed on 
before them. When all were over, the priests carrying the 
ai'k moved forward also, and the w^aters returned to their 
proper place again. But before they did so, Joshua com- 
manded twelve men, one from each tribe, each to take a stone 
from the river's bed ; and these stones wei-e set up as a 
memorial of the marvellous manner in which God had brought 
the Israelites across the Jordan into Canaan. 

44 




CROSSING THE JORDAN. 



THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST. 




|EWS of the miraculous way in which the Israelites had 
been brought across the Jordan spread rapidly among 
the Canaanites, and when they heard what God had 
done, they were very much afraid. We are told that "their 
heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, 
because of the children of Israel." 

God had said to Joshua that the land of Canaan was to 
be taken possession of by the Israelites ; and had commanded 
him to " Be strong and of a good courage," and had strength- 
ened him by saying, "Be not afraid, neither be thou dis- 
mayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou 
goest." Joshua and the peoj)le were now in Canaan, and 
before them lay a stronghold of the Canaanites, named Jericho, 
liaving high walls and strong gates. This city the Israelites 
had to capture; but the inhabitants closed the gates, and 
prepared to fight fiercely to prevent Joshua and his warriors 
from getting in. 

As Joshua was alone at this time, near Jericho, he looked 
up, and saw a man standing with a drawn sword in his hand. 
Joshua went to him and asked, "Art thou for us or for our 
adversaries?" The man answered, "Nay; but as captain of 
the host of the Lord am I come." Do you know who it was? 
Was it an angel? I think it was more than an angel. It 
was the Lord! Joshua fell on his face to the earth and 
worshipped, saying, "What saith my Lord unto His servant?" 
Then the Lord told Joshua, as before he had told Moses, to 
take his shoes from his feet, for the place on which he stood was 
holy; and instructed him how Jericho was to be captured. 

46 




THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD's HOST. 



HOW JERICHO WAS CAPTURED, 




HEN men in olden times attacked a city, they tried 
to batter down the walls with heavy beams of wx)od, 
having heads of iron, called battering rams; but 
God did not instruct the Israelites thus to capture Jericho. 
They were to I'emember that it was not by their own 
power they could conquer the Canaanites, but only as God 
gave them the victory over their enemies. So God commanded 
Joshua to lay siege to Jericho in a very strange way. He 
said that seven priests, each having a trumpet, w^ere to go 
before the ark. In front of them the armed men of Israel 
were to march ; and behind the ark the people w^ere to follow. 
In this way they were to go round the city once each day for 
six days, the priests blowing their trumpets each time. The 
seventh day they were to go in the same manner round the 
city seven times; and God said that wdien the priests blew 
their trumpets the seventh time, the people were to give a 
great shout, and the walls of the city would fall down. 

Joshua and the people did as God commanded. They 
marched round the city carrying the ark, the priests blowing 
their trumpets ; and on the seventh day they marched round 
seven times. The last time, when the priests blew their 
trumpets, the people shouted with a great shout, and the walls 
of the city fell down flat. Then the Israelites w^ent up and 
took possession of it. 

Thus God delivered Jericho into the hands of His people. 
All the inhabitants were killed except Rahab and her relatives. 
These were spared because Rahab had been kind to the spies 
whom Joshua had sent. 

48 




THE FALL OF JERICHO. 



ACHAN'S SIN. 




OD commanded the Israelites to destroy Jericho ; and 
all the gold, silver, and other riches found there 
were to be devoted to the Lord. If any disobeyed 
this command then a curse was to rest upon all, and 
they were not to prosper. 

The Israelites were to conquer the Canaanites, and drive 
them out of the land. So Joshua prepared to attack a city 
named Ai. Three thousand of his men went to capture it, 
but the inhabitants came out and drove them back, killing 
some of tliem. Joshua was greatly grieved. He knew that 
unless God made the Israelites victorious, the Canaanites 
would be able to ovei'come them, and God had appeared to 
fail them this time. Oli ! he was sorry. But he told God 
the trouble, and God showed him the cause of it. 

One of the Israelites, named Achan, saw among the 
spoil of Jericho, a handsome garment, some silver, and a 
bar of gold, and coveted them. He stole these things and 
hid them away in his tent, thinking that no one saw him ; but 
God knew it all. Achan's sin was the cause of Israel's defeat! 
God showed Joshua how the man who had done the wicked- 
ness was to be discovered. Each tribe was to be brought 
before God, then each family of the tribe He chose, then each 
household of the family taken, and lastly each man of the 
family chosen. Finally, Achan was pointed out by God. 
Joshua bade him confess what he had done, and he said that 
he had taken the Babylonish garment and the gold and silver. 

Messengers were sent to his tent, who brought what 
Achan had hidden; and he, with his sons and daughters, his 
cattle, and all that he had, and the garment, silver, and gold, 

50 




ACHAN CONFESSING HIS SIN. 



wei'e taken to a valley near by, where the people stoned them, 
and burned them with fire ; and then raised over all a great 
heap of stones, which remained as a memorial to warn others 
against sinning as Achan had done. 



THE ALTAE ON MOUNT EBAL. 




EFORE Moses died he called the Israelites together, 
and ni'ged them to faithfully serve God; also 
directing that when they entered Canaan, they 
were to build an altar of rough stones, covered Avith plaster, 
on Mount Ebal, and to write the words of God's law upon 
this altar. Then six of the tribes were to stand on Mount 
Gerizim, and six on Mount Ebal, and, in the hearing of all 
the people, the blessings for obedience and the cursings for 
disobedience were to be proclaimed. 

Mounts Ebal and Gerizim are two rugged mountains that 
face each other in Samaria. When the Israelites advanced 
thus far, thev remembered the words of Moses. Joshua 
built the altar as directed, on which he offered sacrifices to 
God, and w^rote a copy of the law upon it. All Israel stood, 
"half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them 
over against Mount Ebal,'' and Joshua read all the words of 
the law, "the blessings and cursings, according to all that 
is written in the book of the law." Then the loud voices of the 
Levites w^ere heard from the mountain sides, declaring, in the 
hearing of all the people, the blessings for obedience and the 
curses for disobedience, as God had commanded. 

52 




THE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL. 



THE CITIES OF REFUGE. 




EVENGE is contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ. 
" If thine enemy hunger, feed him," says the Saviour; 
but among the Israelites and other eastern nations a 
different practice prevailed. If one slew another, the kinsman 
of him that was slain felt bound to avenge his relative, and to 
slay him that had done the deed. Sometimes people were 
killed by accident, when it was clearly unjust that he who had 
unwittingly killed another should be slain. To guard against 
the innocent thus suffering, God commanded that ''cities of 
refuge" should be appointed, to which the slayer might flee, 
"which killeth any person at unawares." 

These cities were six in number: Kedesh, Shechem, and 
Kirjath-arba, on the west of Jordan; and Bezer, Ramoth, and 
Golan, on the east of that river. They were so arranged that 
a few hours' rapid flight would bring the slayer from any part 
of the land to one of the cities of refuge. Jewish Avriters say 
that the roads leading to these cities were always kept in good 
repair, and that guide-posts were placed at every cross road 
with "Refuge! Refuge!" written upan them. But the man 
that wilfully killed another was not sheltered. He was given 
up to the avenger to be slain. 

In our picture we see the slayer running to the city gate ; 
the avenger close behind, shooting arrows at him. He has thus 
far escaped, and two or three more steps will place him in 
safety. But, once within the city, he must not quit its refuge 
until the death of the high priest. If he do so and the avenger 
find him he may be slain. But upon the death of the high 
priest he will be allowed to return home, to dwell in peace 



again. 



54 




FLEEING TO THE CITY OF REFUGE. 



JOSHUA'S EXHORTATION. 




XHORTATION seems a hard word, but it simply 
means to strongly urge to good deeds, and this is what 
our artist shows Joshua to be doing. 

Joshua is now an old man, and the Israelites are settled 
peaceably in Canaan. He has called them before him, witli 
their elders, and heads, and judges, and officers. He tells them 
that he is old and about to die, and reminds them of the land 
that has already been conquered and divided among them, and 
of that which still remains to be conquered ; urging them to 
be "very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in 
the book of the law of Moses, that they turn not aside there- 
from to the I'ight hand or to the left." He bids them take good 
heed therefore unto themselves, that they love the Lord their 
God; and ^s\arns them that if they go back and do wickedly, 
the anger of the Lord will be kindled against them, and ihey 
will perish quickly from off the good land which God has given 
them. 

In his address, Joshua said, "Ye know in all your liearts 
and in all your souls, that not one good thing hath failed of 
all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning 
you ; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath 
failed thereof." How faithful is God ! He never fails in His 
pi'omises : and we are told He is unchangeable, so that what- 
evei' He promises now He will fulfil, and whatever wai'nings 
He gives will surely come to pass. How good is it to have 
this holy and wise God for our Father, and to know that He 
] )romises abundantly to bless all those that trust in the Saviour, 
Jesus Christ. But let us take heed of the warnings against 
sin given in God's Holy Word. 

56 




JOSHUA EXHORTING THE PEOPLE. 



GIDEON AND THE FLEECE. 



WMM 



FTER the death of Joshua, the Israelites turned away 
from God, and served idols. Therefore the evils came 
upon them of which they had been warned by Moses 
and Joshua. But at different times God, seeing their distress, 
raised up "judges" to deliver them from their enemies, and to 
judge over them. The first of these judges was named Othniel. 
He was Caleb's nephew. The last was Sanmel. One that lived 
about one hundred years before Samuel was named Gideon. 

The Israelites were at this time in gi-eat trouble. They 
w^ere hiding in dens and caves because of the Midianites, who 
had conquered them and overrun their country. When their 
corn was ripe these enemies came and destroyed it, so altogether 
they were in sad plight. One day Gideon w^as threshing 
wheat in a secluded place, so as to escape the notice of the 
Midianites, Avhen an angel from God appeared to him, bidding 
him to go and save the Israelites from their foes. Gideon 
obeyed the command : but before commencing the battle he 
much desired a sign from God showing that He would give the 
Israelites the victory. The sign Gideon asked for was, that 
when he laid a fleece of wool on the ground, if the victory were 
to be his, then the fleece should be wet and the ground dry. 
He placed the wool on the ground, and taking it up the next 
niorning found it w^et, although the ground was dry. So he knew 
God had answered him as he desired. But he was not quite 
satisfied. He begged God for a second sign. This time the 
ground was to be wet and the fleece of wool dry. God gave 
him this sign also : and then Gideon felt sure that the Israel- 
ites w^ould be victorious over the Midianites. 

58 




EXAMINING THE FLEECE. 



THE DEFEAT OF THE MIDIANITES. 




AEGE numbers of the Israelites gathered around 
Gideon, prepared to fight against the Midianites, 
Avho were encamped in a valley, "like grasshoppers 
for multitude." How Gideon's host was reduced till only three 
hundred men remained, and the wonderful di'eam he heard 
related, when he and his servant went down as spies into the 
enemy's camp, are recorded in the seventh chapter of Judges. 
It was not by their own bravery or power that the Israelites 

were to overcome their enemies. God was to aive them the 

<_/ 

victory : and He chose Gideon and three hundred men to over- 
come the great and mighty host of the Midianites. 

Gideon divided his three hundred men into three companies, 
and put a trumpet in every man's hand, and gave to each a 
pitcher with a lamp inside. Then he said, "Look on me, and 
do likewise : when I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are 
with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of the 
camp, and say, 'The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.'" 
Gideon and the hundred men of his company approached 
the enemy's camp by night, and the other two companies drew 
nigh also, so that the Midianites w^ere surrounded. Then all 
blew their trumpets, broke their pitchers, held up their lamps 
(torches), and cried out as they had been commanded. 

The Midianites heard the trumpets' blast and the cry, and 
saw the lights. They were thrown into confusion, and one 
fought against another; then they tied, and were pursued by 
the Israelites, great numbers of whom gathered together and 
followed after their flying enemies. Thus the Midianites were 
overcome, and Israel had peace during the lifetime of Gideon. 

60 




THE SWORD OF THE LORD, AND OF GIDEON. 



THE DEATH OF SAMSON. 




AMSON'S birth was foretold by an angel. He was to 
grow up a Nazarite, forbidden to drink strong drink, 
neither was his head to be shaved. His strength was 
very great ; but his marriage was sinful, and his doings with 
the idolatrous Philistines terrible. Though an Israelite and a 
judge, I fear much he sinned greatly against God. On one 
occasion he went to Gaza, a city of the Philistines. The 
inhabitants tried to take him, but he arose at midnight and 
carried away the gates of their city. In our picture though he 
looks so strong, yet we see chains on his legs, and he is blind ! 
How came he to lose his sight and be made a prisoner? I 
think it was owing to his sin and folly. 

He became acquainted with a wicked woman, who enticed 
him to tell her in what his great strength lay. Three times 
he told her falsely, but at last he said that if the flowing locks 
of his hair were removed his strength would depart. While 
he slept these locks were cut off, then the Philistines burst in 
upon him, and when he arose to resist them, he found that his 
strength was gone. Then his eyes were cruelly put out, and 
he was bound with fetters of brass. 

Our artist shows him blind, brought out to make sport at 
the Philistines' feast. He is very sorrowful, and, I think, angry. 
He asks the lad beside him to place his hands upon the pillars 
supporting the liouse; then, his great strength returning, he 
bows himself with all his might ; the pillars break, the house 
falls, and Samson, with very many of the Philistines, is crushed 
amid the ruins. Was not this a terrible end to what might 
have been a noble life ? 

62 



SAMSON MAKING SPORT FOR THE PHiLISTINES. 



RUTH AND NAOMI. 




AOMI was the wife of a Jew named Elimelech, who 
left his own city of Bethlehem to go into the land of 
Moab, because there was a famine in Canaan. Some 
time afterwards he died, leaving Naomi a widow with two sons, 
all dwellers in a strange land. Her sons married two young 
women belonging to Moab, whose names were Orpah and Euth. 
After living there about ten years Naomi's sons died also, leaving 
Orpah and Euth widows, along with their widowed mother-in- 
law\ Then Naomi determined to return to her own land. Orpah 
and Euth accompanied Naomi some distance on her journey; 
then she bade them to leave her, telling each to go back to her 
mother's house in Moab, while she would pursue her way alone 
to the land of Judah. They were unwilling to do so, saying 
they would go with her to her land and people ; but she urged 
them to dejiart, assuring them that they would gain nothing 
by leaving their own country to accompany her, and that they 
had better return to their own homes. Then the story informs 
us — you Avill find it in the Bible, in the Book of Euth — tliat 
Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and departed ; but Euth cLave 
unto her, saying, "Whither tliou goest, I will go; and where 
thou lodgest, I will lodge ; thy people shall be my people, and 
thy God my God ; where thou diest, will I die, and there will 
I be buried : the Lord do so to me and more also, if ought but 
death part thee and me." * 

So Euth refused to leave her mother-in-law, and journeyed 
with her until they reached Canaan. Then they both dwelt 
in the city of Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, where we shall 



meet with them again. 



64 




RUTH AND NAOMI. 



BOAZ AND RUTH. 




HEN Naomi returned to Bethlehem she was poor. 
The poor were allowed at harvest time to follow 
the reapers ; gleaning or gathering up the stray ears 
of corn. One day, Ruth obtained permission from her 
mother-in-law to go gleaning, and went to glean in the field 
of a rich man named Boaz, who happened to be a kinsman, 
or relative of Elimelech. But Ruth did not know of this rela- 
tionship. 

Boaz saw Ruth gleaning, and asked one of his servants 
who she was. The servant replied, " It is the Moabitish damsel 
that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.'^ 
Then Boaz spoke kindly to Ruth, telling her not to go to any 
other field to glean, but to stay with his maidens and glean in 
his field. She fell on her face before him and bowed herself 
to the ground, and asked, "Why have I found grace in thine 
eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a 
stranger? " Boaz was pleased with her because of her kindness 
to Naomi, so he replied, " It hath fully been showed me all that 
thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine 
husband." He also bade her to eat and drink with his ser- 
vants, and told his reapers to let some handfuls of grain fall on 
purpose for her. So Ruth gleaned that day quite a large 
quantity of barley, which she took home to Naomi. Then she 
learned that Boaz was her kinsman. 

She continued gleaning until the end of harvest; and 
afterwards became the wife of Boaz and grandmother of Jesse, 
the father of David. Jesus Christ descended from David; so 
we see what high honour was bestowed upon Ruth for her kind- 
ness to her mother-in-law. 

66 




BOAZ SHOWING KINDNESS TO RUTH. 



HANNAH PEAriNG BEFOKE THE LORD. 




|HE Tabernacle, which had been set up by the Israelites 
in the wilderness, was after the conquest of Canaan 
erected at Shiloh, a city about ten miles south of 
Shechem. There it remained for more than three hundred 
years. No Temple was at Jerusalem in those days, so the 
Jewish priests offered sacrifices to God in the Tabernacle at 
Shiloh. 

One day, Hannah, the wife of a priest named Elkanah, 
came to the Tabernacle to worship. She was grieved because 
she had no children ; and especially sad because she had no 
son. So she knelt down and prayed to God, and asked God to 
remember her sorrow and to give her a son ; promising that if 
God granted her request, she would give that son to Him all 
the days of his life. 

As Hannah prayed, Eli, the high priest, saw her. She did 
not speak aloud, but prayed in her lieart; her lips moved, but 
no voice was heard ; so Eli thought that a drunken woman had 
come before the Lord. He reproved her saying, ''How long wilt 
thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee." But Han- 
nah had not drunk wine. She answered Eli, "No, my lord, I 
am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine 
nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord." 
Then Eli bade her " Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant 
thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him." 

Hannah left the Tabernacle. Her face was no longer sad. 
She l)e]ieved God had heard her pi'ayer; and He had done so. 
In due time a son was given her, whom she named Samuel. 
Samuel means Heard of God, which name Hannah gave him in 
remembrance of God's goodness in hearing her prayer. 

68 




HANNAH PRAYING BEFORE THE LORD. 



ELI AND SAMUEL. 




ILKANAH went up to Shiloli yearly to offer sacrifice; 
and wlien Samuel was old enough, Hannah went with 
her husband and took her little boy with her. They 
came to Eli the high piiest, and Hannah said : "Oh, my Lord, 
I am the woman that stood by thee here praying. For this 
child I prayed ; and the Lord hath given me my petition. 
Therefore also have I given him to the Lord." Then she left 
Samuel with Eli. 

Samuel assisted Eli in the Tabernacle service, and wore a 
linen ephod like a priest. His mother came yearly to see him, 
when she accompanied Elkanah to the sacrifice at Shiloh, and 
each time brought with her a little coat, which she had made 
for her son. Eli was an old man, who had two wicked sons. 
These he had not restrained as he should have done. So God 
was displeased with him and them on account of their sins. 

One night, while the lamp in the Tabernacle was burning, 
and Eli was resting, Samuel was sleeping. A voice came to 
him calling, " Samuel ! " He rose, and ran to Eli saying, " Here 
am L'' But Eli had not called, so Samuel lay down again. A 
second time the same voice called, "Samuel!" He went to 
Eli and said, "Here am I; for thou didst call me." But Eli 
replied, "I called not, my son; lie down again." The call was 
repeated a third time ; then Eli told Samuel it was the Lord 
who called him ; and bade him answer if the voice came again, 
" Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." Again God called, 
and Samuel answered as Eli had conmianded him. Then God 
told Samuel what terrible thinscs should befall Eli and his sons 



through their wickedness. 



70 




SAMUEL COMING TO ELI. 



DEATH OF ELI AND HIS SONS. 




N the. morning Samuel feared to tell Eli what the Lord 
had shown him ; but Eli bade him do so, saying to 
Samuel, " God do so to thee, and more also, if thou 
hide any thing from me of all that He said unto thee." So 
Samuel told Eli all God had said, keeping nothing back, and 
Eli answered, " It is the Lord : let Him do what seemeth Him 
good." 

Afterwards there was war betw^een the Israelites and the 
Philistines, and both sides prepared for battle. They fought ;, 
the Israelites were defeated, and many of them slain. Then 
they sent to Shiloh and fetched the ark of the covenant out 
of the Tabernacle, carrying it to the camp, and thinking tliat 
if the ark were with them they would overcome their enemies. 
But the ark only signified God's presence in their midst; it 
was not God Himself, to give them victory. It was very 
sinful of them thus to use what God had made so holy ; and 
God suffered them again to be defeated. The ark w^as taken 
by the Philistines, and many of the Israelites were slain. 

Eli, w^ho was then ninety-eight years old, and ne-arly 
blind, sat by the wayside, trembling for the safety of the ark, 
and waiting for messengers to bring new^s of the battle. 
Presently a messenger came who told him the Israelites had 
fled before the Philistines, that his two sons Hophni and 
Phinehas were slain, and that the ark of God had been taken. 
When he heard that the ark had been taken, he fell backward 
from off his seat and died. Thus God's judgment upon Eli 
and his sons came to pass. In our picture w^e see the messenger, 
who has just come from the field of battle, telling Eli the sad 



tidings that caused his death. 



72 




ELI RECEIVING THE EVIL TIDINGS. 



PLATING ON THE HARP BEFORE SAUL. 




E are not told much in the Bible concerning the early 
life of David. He was born in Bethlehem. We 
have seen who his father was, but I do not find that 
his mother's name is given. His own name means " beloved/' 
What a happy name! He must have been much loved by his 
parents, and we know he was loved by God. 

Like many other youths in Canaan, he acted as a shepherd 
to his father's flocks. He was a fail', open-faced boy; ''ruddy, 
and of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look at,'' so the 
Scriptures say. He was a good musician, knew how to sling 
stones at a mark, and was so brave that when a lion and a 
bear came to attack the lambs of his flock he went after them 
and killed them both. One day a strange and most important 
event happened. Samuel, the prophet, came from Ramah, and 
pouring some very precious oil upon the head of David, 
anointed liim to be the future King of Israel. Saul was then 
King, but on account of his wickedness God had rejected him, 
saying tliat another should reign in his stead. 

Soon after this event Saul became very wretched. An 
evil spirit troubled him, we are told. His servants advised 
him to get a man that could play skilfully upon the harp, so that 
music might drive away his misery. Some one suggested 
David; and David was sent for. He brought sweet strains from 
his harp, and Saul was sootlied. Saul was pleased with David. 
We are told that " he loved him greatly," and that David became 
his armour-bearer. But he soon grew jealous, and twice threw 
a javelin at David, seeking to smite him to the wall and kill 
him. This, however, he was not able to do. 

74 




DAVID PLAYING ON THE HARP BEFORE SAUL. 



DAVID AND GOLIATH. 




|0W attentively David looks at the stones in his hand. 
His sling is on his arm, and his bag by his side. 
What is he about to do with those stones ? And who 
is that tall man in armour, strutting about with such a long 
spear in his hand ? 

Two armies were drawn up in battle array. They w^ere 
the armies of the Israelites and Philistines. The camp of 
the Israelites was on one hill, and that of the Philistines 
was upon another; a valley lying between. For forty days 
these armies had been facing each other, but yet the battle had 
been delayed. The Philistines had on their side a giant of 
great height and strength, encased in armour, who daily came 
out, challenging the Israelites to send a man from their camp 
to fight with him. But no man among them dared to go 
against Goliath, the Philistines' champion. 

• Meanwhile Jesse had sent David to the Israelites' camp 
to see after his brethren. He heard what the giant said, and 
offered to go out against him. Saul was informed of David's 
offer, and sent for him. Saul told David he was not able to 
fight the giant, but he boldly replied, "The Lord which 
delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of 
the bear. He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.'^ 
David trusted not in his own power, but in God ! Then Saul 
said, "Go, and the Lord be with thee." 

He went, slung one of the smooth stones he had chosen 
out of the brook, smote the Philistine in the forehead so that 
he fell to the earth, and then i-an and cut off his head. Thus 
God enabled this ruddy youth to overcome the giant Philistine, 
and to slay him with a sling and a stone. 

76 




CHOOSING SMOOTH STONES OUT OF THE BROOK. 



NATHAN REPROVING THE KING. 




|AVID was now King. He had great riches and honour, 
and a palace had been built for him. He had 
brought the ark from Kirjath-jearim, and placed it 
in the tabernacle prepared for it at Jerusalem, and he now 
reigned over all the people of Israel and Judah. But David 
did a very wicked thing. He took the wife of Uriah the Hittite 
for his wife, and caused Uriah to be slain. God was displeased 
at what he had done, and sent Nathan the prophet to reprove 
him. 

Nathan's reproof was given by a parable. It was a story 
of a poor man who had one dear little lamb. It grew up in 
his house, played with his children, and was very precious to 
him. But one day a traveller came to a rich neighbour, who 
possessed great flocks and herds, and this neighbour, instead 
of killing one of his own lambs and setting it before his guest, 
sent and took the poor man's lamb and killed it. 

David heard the story, and was very angry. He said the 
rich man should die, and the lamb taken away should be 
restored fourfold. Then Nathan, looking at the King, said : 
"Thou art the man! " He showed David how greatly he had 
sinned, and told him that trouble and sorrow would come upon 
him for what he had done. God had given him riches and 
honour, and all that he could wish for ; yet he had taken the 
one precious thing of Uriah's, even his wife, and had caused 
him to be slain. David was sorely grieved when he saw how 
wickedly he had acted. He confessed his sin to God, and God 
ibrgave it ; but great trouble came uxjon the King afterwards 



through this crime. 



78 



it 




"THOU ART THE MAN. 



DAVID AND ARAUNAH. 




FTER David had reigned many years he mimbered the 
people of Israel. This was wi'ong ; and God sent a 
pestilence which destroyed seventy thousand men. 
David was grieved, and prayed that God would punish him and 
spare the people. God stayed the hand of the destroying 
angel; who stood by the threshing-floor of Araunah, whither 
David was told to 2:0 and offer sacrifice. David went. He 
purchased the threshing-floor of Araunah, also oxen and wood, 
and offered a burnt sacrifice to God. The following verses 
describe the scene : — 



BESIDE Araunali's threshing-place 
The awful angel took liis stand, 
When from high heaven came words 
of grace — 
*' It is enough ; stay now thine hand." 

For David's penitential prayer 

Had enter'd God's compassionate ear; 

And where the angel stood, even there 
God bade the King an altar rear. 

Araunah offered ground, and wood, 

And oxen for the sacrifice : 
David the noble wish withstood, 

And bought them all at the full price. 



His answer has a royal ring; 

Its lesson high shall not be lost: 
" Burnt offerings I will never bring 

Unto Jehovali without cost." 

The altar rose, the victims died. 

The plague was staj^ed, and lo, there 
fell- 
Token that Heaven was satisfied — 

A fire from God, and all was weU. 

'Twas like a finger from the skies — 
That falling fire — to show God's will, 

That here the Temple should arise 
And crown Moriah's sacred hill. 



And still God marks the faithful prayer, 

The careful work, the costly pains ; 
The Spirit's fire descendeth there, 

And there, as in a shrine, remains. 

Richard Wilton, M. A. 

80 




DAVID AND ARAUNAH. 



ELIJAH FED BY RAVENS. 




OD was displeased with King Aliab, and sent His 
prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, to say unto him, "As the 
Lord God of Israel liveth there shall not be dew nor 
rain for years in all Israel." God knew that these words would 
make Ahab angry with Elijah, so He commanded Elijah to get 
out of Ahab's way. " Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, 
and hide tliyself by the brook Cherith, that is belbre Jordan. 
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook ; and I have 
commanded the ravens to feed thee there.'' 

Elijah went, and the ravens brought him bread and 
meat, morning and evening, and he drank of the brook. But 
after many days the brook dried up, and God told him to go 
to Zarephath, where a widow would sustain him. So he arose 
and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the 
city he saw the widow gathering sticks; and called to her, 
saying, "Bring me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that 
I may drink, and a morsel of bread in thy hand, that I may 
eat." 

The widow turned and said, "As the Lord thy God 
liveth, I have not a cake, but only a handful of meal, and 
a little oil in a cruse; and, behold, I am gathering a few 
sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that 
we may eat it before we starve to death." Elijah told her not 
to fear, but to make a cake for him, and, afterwards, one for 
her son and herself, for God had said that neither her handful 
of meal nor her cruse of oil should fail until He again sent 
rain upon the earth. So she did as Elijah told her, and there 
was always enough oil and meal for their daily food, according 
to the word of the Lorxl which He spake by Elijah. 

82 




ELIJAH FED BY RAVENS. 



PLOUGHING IN CANAAN. 




N Scripture frequent mention is made of the husband- 
man and his work. Ploughing the land, sowing the 
seed, leaping the harvest, and winnowing the grain 
are often referred to. Our picture shows an Eastern husband- 
man ploughing. How different it is to ploughing in our own 
land! There is no coulter; and instead of the broad steel 
phiigli-sliaTe we see a pointed piece of wood. And the long 
handles with which our labourers guide their ploughs — where 
are they? The strong horses, too, harnessed one behind the 
other, are missing. Yes! none of these were used in Canaan. 
Small oxen drew the plough ; and the husbandman guided it 
by means of a single handle, as we see him doing in the picture. 
Thus their method of ploughing was a slow one, and unless the 
land had been very good their harvests would have been poor. 

Often these husbandmen had to Avait until the rain made 
the ground soft enough for their ploughs to enter it, conse- 
quently many had to toil in cold, stormy, winter weather. To 
this the proverb alludes which says: "The sluggard will not 
plough by reason of the cold ; therefore shall he beg in harvest, 
and have nothing." (Prov. xx. 4.) 

Perhaps it was just such a plough, drawn by just such 
oxen as w^e see in our picture, that Elisha was using when 
Elijah passed by and cast his mantle upon him; thereby 
calling Elisha to be his servant and successor. We are told 
that Elisha "took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled 
their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto 
the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after 
Elijah, and ministered unto him." 

84 




PLOUGHING IN CANAAN. 



THE SHUNAMMITB'S SON, 




ANY interesting stories are told in the Bible, few of 
which are more touching than that of Elisha the 
prophet, and the Shunammite woman. This story we 
find in the fourth chapter of the Second Book of Kings. 

We read of the prophet journeying to and fro, and resting 
in the little chamber that the kind Shunammite had built for 
him on the wall of her house. We see its bed, table, stool, 
and candlestick ; and the joy beaming upon the good woman' i^ 
face when a tiny infant son was given her. How she loved 
him ! And as he grew up how carefully she watched over him. 
But a sad time was coming. 

The golden corn was in the field ready for reaping, for 
the harvest time had come. The hot sun shone overhead, and 
the little lad was out with his father in the field, probably 
running about among the corn. Suddenly he felt a violent 
pain, and cried out, ''My head, my head!" Then joy was 
clianged to sorrow. The father saw his son was ill, and bade 
a lad carry the little boy to his mother, on whose knees he sat 
till noon, and then he died. 

Next we see the mother leaving her dead son, and 
journeying to find the prophet. Elisha sees her coming, and 
sends Gehazi to inquire if all is well. Then she falls down 
before the prophet and tells him her trouble ; and he sends his 
servant with his staff to lay it upon the dead child. The story 
closes by stating how Elisha follows Gehazi, goes to the chamber 
where the dead boy lay, prays to God that the life may be 
restored,^ and finally has the joy of giving the lad, alive and 
well again, into the arms of his mother. 

86 




THE SHUNAMMITE S SON RESTORED. 



THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID. 




jAAMAN was a great general in the army of the King 
of Syria, who esteemed him highly, because it was 
Naaman that led the Syrians when God gave them 
victory over the Israelites. But in spite of his bravery and his 
high position, he was miserable, because he suffered from a 
terrible disease called leprosy. Now, among the captives whom 
the Syrians had brought back from war was a little Israelitish 
maiden, who was appointed to wait upon Naaman's wife. She 
had heard of the w^onderful things which Elisha did in the 
name of God ; and she told her unstress that if Naaman could 
only see this prophet, who was in Samaria, he could be cured. 
And the King was told what the maid had said, and he sent a 
letter to the King of Israel commanding him to cure Naaman 
of his leprosy. But the King of Israel was afraid, and thought 
the King of Syria sought this way to quarrel with him. When 
Elisha heard of the King's fear, he sent and desired tliat 
Naaman should be brought to him. So Naaman came in his 
chariot, and stood at Elisha's door. But the prophet instead of 
coming to him, sent a message directing Naaman to wash in 
Jordan seven times, when his leprous flesh would be restored to 
health. Naaman had thought that Elisha would have received 
him with much ceremony and touched him, bidding the leprosy 
to depart; so he was angry and said, "Are not the rivers of 
Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? May I not 
wash in them and be clean ? " Therefoi'e he went away in a 
rage. But his servants persuaded him to carry out the prophet's 
injunction, and he went and dipped seven times in Jordan, and 
was made whole. 

88 




THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID. 



JONAH AT NINEVEH. 




ON AH was commanded to go to Nineveh, and cry out 
that the city should be destroyed on account of the 
wickedness of its inhabitants. But instead of obeying 
God's command he fled in a ship that was bound for Tarshish. 
Then a great storm arose, and the shipmen cast Jonah into the 
sea, believing that the storm had been sent through his disobe- 
dience. God saved Jonah by means of a large fish, and brought 
him safely to land again. 

A second time God said to Jonah, "Arise, go unto Nineveh, 
that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid 
thee." So Jonah arose and went as God had directed him. 
Now Nineveh was a very large city, about sixty miles in cir- 
cumference, and Jonah went some distance inside and then 
cried out, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown! '^ 
It was a strange and terrible cry which sounded tliroughout the 
city, and as the Ninevites heard it they feared God, proclaimed 
a fast, covered themselves with sackcloth, and every man was 
commanded to forsake evil. So they hoped God would forgive 
them and spare their city. 

God saw what they did and how they turned from their 
evil ways, therefore He spared their city. When Jonali saw 
that Nineveh was spared he was very angry, and prayed God 
to take away his life. He made a booth and sat under it to see 
what would become of the city. Then God sheltered him from 
the sun by a gourd, and afterwards taught him by it how wrong 
he was in being displeased because Nineveh had been spared. 
Nineveh Avas afterwards overthrown, and has- remained since 
then but a heajp of ruins. 

90 




JONAH AT NINEVEH. 



HEZEKIAH AND SENNACHERIB. 




ENNACHERIB, the King of Assyria, invaded the land 
of Judah, and threatened to lay siege to Jerusalem. 
Then Hezekiah took counsel with his princes and 
mighty men, and repaired the- broken walls, and made them 
higher. He made many other preparations for the defence of 
the city, and went among his people, exhorting them to trust 
in God, and be of good courage. But Sennacherib sent mes- 
sengers to induce those that guarded the walls of the city to 
revolt against Hezekiah, saying, '' Do not believe this Hezekiah 
when he tells you that your God will deliver you ; hath any of 
the nations against which I have made war been delivered by 
their gods? " 

When Hezekiah heard these words he went into the house 
of the Lord, and sent messengers to Isaiah, asking for his 
prayers. Isaiah said to them, " Thus saith the Lord, ' Be not 
afraid of the words with which the King of Assyi'ia hath blas- 
phemed Me. I will send a blast upon him, and he shall return 
and shall fall by the sword in his own land.' " Afterwards the 
King of Assyria sent a letter to Hezekiah, in which he repeated 
his sneers at the power of God. When Hezekiah read it, he 
went into the house of the Lord, and spreading the letter before 
the Lord, ])rayed for His help. God answered, by the mouth 
of Isaiah, that the King of Assyria should not enter Jerusalem, 
nor shoot over it, but be turned back the way he came. And 
the same night the angel of the Lord went into the camp of 
the Assyrians, and smote one hundred and eighty-live thousand. 
Then Sennaclierib returned to Nineveh, and as he was worship- 
ping in the house of his god, there came to him two of his sons, 
w^ho killed liim. 

92 




HEZEKIAH LAYING THE LETTER P,EFOKE GOD. 



THE BRAVE HEBREW BOYS. 




RAVE boys and girls ! We all wish to be brave, do we 
not? Then we must learn to say ''No/' when 
tempted to do wrong. 
These Hebrew boys were young nobles who had been 
carried captive from Jerusalem to Babylon ; but though in a 
strange land, subject to the mighty king Nebuchadnezzar, they 
feared not to refuse his food and wine when they knew that the 
taking of it would cause them to sin against God. They were 
well educated Hebrew youths, and the Babylonish king had 
commanded that they should be taught the learning of the 
Chaldeans ; also, to keep them in health and with beautiful coun- 
tenances, he had ordered that the meat and wine from his table 
should be given them. Their names were Daniel, Hananiah, 
Mishael, and Azariah. Daniel seems to have been their leader. 
We find "he purposed in his heart that he would not defile 
himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine 
Avhich he drank." So he begged the king's servant to feed hini 
and his three companions on plain food and pure water ; but the 
servant feared to do so, lest the king should find them worse 
looking^ than those who ate his meat and drank his wine, and 
the servant should lose his head in consequence. A trial was 
made, however, for ten days, at the end of which time they 
were found to be better looking than the boys fed on rich 
food and wine. Therefore, the servant let them live plainly 
according to their request ; and at the end of three years, when 
they stood before the king, we are told that for wisdom and 
understanding none were found like Daniel, Hananiah, 
Mishael, and Azariah. 

94 




'J HE IJRAVE HEBREW ROYS. 



DANIEL AND THE LIONS. 




HEN Darius came to the throne, upon the death of 
Belshazzar, he set over the kingdom a hundred and 
twenty princes. Over these he appointed three presi- 
dents, of whom Daniel was first. Now the princes and other 
presidents were jealous of Daniel, and sought to find some 
fault against him; but could not, as he was a faithful servant 
of the King. Then they tried to injure him because of his 
praying to God. So they came to the King, and said, '' King 
Darius live for ever : all the great officers of thy kingdom have 
consulted together to establish a royal law, that whosoever shall 
ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, 
King, he shall be cast into a den of lions." The King signed 
the writing and established the law. But Daniel still knelt and 
prayed three times a day as before. 

His enemies saw him praying, and told the King, urging 
him to carry out the law. But the King was angry with him- 
self that he had asireed to such a law, and tried to think of 
some way to save Daniel. Then these men urged that the law 
could not be altered. So Daniel was cast into the d^n of lions, 
and a stone was put over the mouth of the den, which was 
sealed by the King and the lords. But the King had said to 
Daniel, ''Thy God whom thou servest will deliver thee." 

The King passed the night fasting, and could not sleep. 
In the morning, very early, he arose and went to the den of 
lions, and cried with a lamentable voice, " Daniel, servant of 
the living God, is thy God able to deliver thee from the lions?" 
Then Daniel said, " King, live for ever. My God hath sent 
His angel and shut the lions' mouths." 

96 




DANIEL AND THE LIONS. 



ESTHER BEFORE THE KING. 




HASUERUS reigned over the vast empire of Persia, 
and Esther, the adopted daughter of a Jew named 
Mordecai, was Queen. None in the palace knew she' 
was a Jewess, for Mordecai had charged her not to make it 
known. He abode in the king's palace, and was one of the 
king's servants. 

Ahasuerus promoted Haman, one of his courtiers, a cruel 
and wicked man, to be over all his princes and officers ; and all 
bowed down to Haman and did him reverence except Mordecai, 
the Jew. Then was Haman filled with wrath against Mordecai 
and his people, and obtained from the king a decree ordering 
that all the Jews throughout his dominions should be slain. 
Mordecai informed Queen Esther of this decree, and bade her 
go to the king and plead for her people. Now it was one of 
the laws of the palace that no one should approach the king in 
the inner court unless he had been previously called ; the 
penalty for not obeying this law being death, unless the king 
should hold out the golden sceptre to the offender so that he 
might live. Esther knew the danger of approaching the king 
uncalled for, but she bade Mordecai to gather the Jews so that 
they might spend three days in fasting and prayer, while she 
and her maidens did the same, and, said she, "So will I go in 
unto the king, which is not according to the law, and if I 
perish, I perish." 

Esther went in. The king graciously held out the golden 
sceptre to her, accepted her invitation to a banquet, and finally 
ordered the wicked Haman to be hanged, and measures to be 
taken to preserve the lives of the Jews. 

98 




ESTHER JBEFORE THE KING. 



DAVID AND JONATHAN. 

{See Frontispiece.) 




ONATHAJSr was the son of Saul, the king. He loved 
David greatly, and regretted that his father, through 
jealousy, sought David's life. David, after the last 
attempt of Saul to smite him to the wall by a javelin, fled away, 
and meeting with Jonathan said : '' What have I done ? What 
is mine iniquity, and what is my sin before thy father that he 
seeketh my life? " 

Jonathan sympathised deeply with his friend, and tried to 
save him. He promised to ascertain whether Saul fully in- 
tended to kill David, and, if so, to inform him, that he might 
escape. Meantime David was to remain in hiding, but on 
the third day Jonathan was to return with the required infor- 
mation. Before they parted they entered into a solemn covenant, 
one with the other, to remain firm friends during life; and 
David promised to show kindness to Jonathan and his children, 
after God should make him kins:. 

At the time appointed, after ascertaining that Saul still 
sought David's life, Jonathan went to the field where David 
lay concealed. Jonathan took with him his bow and arrows 
and a little lad. Shooting an arrow beyond the lad, he cried, 
" Make speed, haste, stay not ! " These words were intended as 
a warning to David to flee quickly. When the lad had gone, 
David arose from his hiding place and came to Jonathan, bow- 
ing three times before him. Then they kissed each other, wept, 
and again pledged themselves to be faithful ; after which David 
fled, and Jonathan returned to the city. 

100 



New Testament 




CHKISr BLESSING THE CHILDREN. 



(Page 192.) 




THE WISE MEN'S VISIT. 




HE birth of Jesus Christ was announced by two 
remarkable events : the coming of wise men from the 
East, and the appearance of angels to some shepherds 
at Bethlehem. 

The wise men were probably astronomers ; and in watching 
the stars they had seen one that had led them to leave their 
own country, and take a long journey to Jerusalem. Most 
likely they rode on camels, and their journey was a tedious one. 
But at last they reached Jerusalem, where they inquired saying, 
''Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have 

103 



seen His star in the East and are come to worship Him/' 
Tidings of these inquiries were brought to King Herod, and 
when lie heard them he was much troubled. He was a wicked 
king; and feared that if another king had been born, he 
would grow up and take the crown away. Herod was also 
cruel and treacherous, and while pretending to act rightly, 
often did many evil things. And now he intended to 
destroy the infant King, who might one day take his sceptre 
away. 

So he first sent for the learned men of the Jews, the 
chief priests and scribes, and demanded of them where Christ 
should be born ; and when they had replied that it was to be 
in Bethlehem, lie secretly called the wise men before him, 
and inquired of them what time the star appeared. After 
getting the infornmtion he needed, he dismissed the wise 
men, bidding them to go to Bethlehem " and search diligently 
for the young child; and when ye have found Him," said 
Herod, " bring me word again, that I may come and worship 
Him also." 

So the wise men left King Herod and Jerusalem, and 
journeyed ouAvard towards Bethlehem ; and the star which 
they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and 
stood over where the young child lay. And when they saw the 
star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy, for they knew they 
had found Him whom they had come so far to seek. 

But the wise men did not bring Herod word where Jesus 
was ; and he was so angry that shortly afterwards he sent 
his soldiers, and slew all the children under two years of age 
that were in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood. He thought 
by so doing to kill Jesus among them, but God prevented him 
from doing so. 



104 




THE WISE MEN BEFORE THE KING. 



THE ANGEUS TIDINGS. 




|T was night. In the fields near Bethlehem a company 
of shepherds kept watch over their flocks. Probably 
S they were holy men, and often thought of God in the 
stillness of the eai-ly morn. And now they may have been 
thinking of the coming of the promised Messiah. 

While watching their flocks, the angel of the Lord came 
to these shepherds, and a dazzling light shone round about 
them. They were much afraid ; but the angel said, " Fear 
not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which 
shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the 
city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." And 
suddenly there was with the angel a great multitude of the 
heavenly host praising God and saying, " Glory to God in 
the highest, and on earth peace, good will toAvard men.'' 

When the angels had departed, the shepherds returned to 
Bethlehem ; and there, in a stable, they found the infant Jesus, 
lying in a manger, watched over and cared for by His mother 
Mary and Joseph. And so great was the surprise and joy of 
the shepherds that they went out and told all they met of the 
wondrous things which they had seen. 

Shortly after the visit of the shepherds, the wise men from 
the East reached Bethlehem, and in a house they found Joseph, 
and Mary, and Jesus. Then they fell down and worshipped 
Jesus, opening the treasures they had brought, and offering 
Him precious gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. But God 
warned them not to go back to Herod, to tell him where the 
new-born King of the Jews was, and they returned to their 
own country another way. 

106 




THE SHEPHERDS WORSHIPPING THE INFANT JESUS. 



JESUS IN THE TEMPLE. 




HEN Jesus was twelve years of age. His parents took 
Him Avith theni to Jerusalem to the feast of the Pass- 
over. Great numbers journeyed from different parts to 
keep this feast; and travelled in companies or caravans, the 
women and old men riding on asses or mules, and the rest going 
on foot. Thus Josej)h and Mary, with Jesus, left Nazareth, and 
with many others journeyed to Jerusalem, where they kept the 
Passover. 

When the feast was ended, as they returned homewards, 
Josepli and Mary discovered that Jesus was missing; but 
supposing Him to have been somewhere among the company, 
they continued their first day's short journey. When, however, 
evening came, and the caravan halted, and Jesus was nowhere 
to be found. His parents sorrowfully returned to Jerusalem 
seeking Him. At last, on the third day, they went to the 
Temple, and found Jesus sitting in the midst of the aged and 
learned Jewish doctors, both hearing them and asking them 
questions. "And all that heard Him were astonished at His 
understanding and answers." 

His parents were amazed when they saw Jesus in such 
company. But Mary, while she rejoiced at finding Him, gently 
said, "Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? Behold Thy 
father and I have sought Thee sorrowing." Jesus replied, 
"How is it that ye sought Me? Wist ye not that I must be 
about My Father's business? " 

Jesus was the Son of God, and doing God's woik was 
being about His Father's business. Years afterwards He said, 
" I came not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that 
sent Me." 

108 







SON, WHY HAST THOU THUS DEALT WITH US? 



THE WONDERFUL DRAUGHT OF FISHES. 




jNE day, as the crowds pressed round Him to hear the 
Word of God, Jesus came to the Lake of Gennesaret 
and saw two boats drawn up on the shore. Now one 
of these belonged to a man named Simon Peter, who was at the 
water's edge washing his nets. Jesus entered into this boat 
and asked Simon to push it off from the land a little. Then 
He sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when 
He had done speaking to them He said to Simon, "Launch out 
into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught of fishes.'^ 
Simon, answering Him, said, " Master, we have toiled all 
through the night and have taken nothing, but as you wish it 
I will let down the net again." And they let down the net 
into the sea, but it enclosed so great a multitude of fishes that 
they could not draw them up ; and the net brake. Then Simon 
beckoned to his partners, James and John, who were in the 
other boat, that they should come and help them. And they 
came and filled both boats with the fishes, so that they began 
to sink. 

When Simon Peter saw it he fell down before Jesus, saying, 
*' Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord." For he and 
all that were with him were astonished at the marvellous 
'draught of fishes which they had taken. And Jesus said unto 
Simon, "Fear not, Simon Peter; from henceforth thou slialt be 
a fisher of men." Meaning that he was to go about winning 
souls for God, instead of being a fisherman. 

And when they had brought their boats to land, they for- 
sook all they had and followed Christ. 

110 




THE WONDERFUL DRAUGHT OF FISHES. 



THE HOUSE BUILT UPON THE SAND. 




iHAT a foolisli man the builder of the house shown in 
our picture must have been! Of course, when the 
wind blew and the waves dashed against his house, 
it would fall. Look how the sea has washed the foundation 
away, and how the roof is falling in ! And the people ; see 
how they are fleeing to save their lives ! And all this calamity 
because he built his house upon the sand. But the other 
house, shown in the distance : how firmly that stands ! What 
a bold front it offers to the waves, and how safely it resists 
the fury of the storm. Its foundations are sure, because they 
rest upon the solid rock. 

Jesus had been teaching the people. He had taught them 
many wonderful truths, which you will find written in the fifth, 
sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew; and in closing He 
said, '' Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth 
them, I will liken him unto a wise man who built his house 
upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, 
and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell not, 
for it was found'ed upon a rock. And every one that heareth 
these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened 
unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand. And 
the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, 
and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of 
it." The lesson Jesus sought to impress upon the people by 
this parable was, that it is not enough simply to hear what 
He says. Many will do that; but it is only those w^ho 
I'emember Christ's commandments and keep them, whose work 
will stand when the time of trial comes. 

112 




THE HOUSE P.UILT UPON i H E SAND. 



HEALING THE CENTURION'S SERVANT. 




ESITS entered into Capernaum, a city by the Sea of 
Galilee, and while He was there a certain Centurion, 
or captain in the Roman army, had a favourite ser- 
vant who was sick of the palsy and in great pain. When this 
Roman heard of Jesus, he sought the Jewish elders and 
implored them to go to Christ and beseech Him to cure the sick 
servant. And the elders came to Jesus and besought Him 
urgently to do this miracle, saying, " He is a worthy man, this 
Roman captain, for he loveth the Jews and hath built us a 
synagogue." 

So Jesus went with them, and when He had come near the 
house, the Centurion himself came to meet Him, saying, " Lord, 
trouble not Thyself, for I am not worthy that Thou shouldest 
enter my house. Speak the word only, and this sickness shall 
depart and my servant be made whole. For I am a man under 
authority of the Emperor, having many soldiers under me, and 
I say unto this man, 'Go,' and he goeth ; to another, 'Come,' 
and he cometh, and to my servant, ' Do this,' and he doeth it. 
Wherefore, if I can so readily command my servants to do my 
bidding, I know that if Thou biddest this sickness to go out 
from my servant it will surely go." 

Jesus marvelled at the man's words, and said to His 
followers, "Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great 
faith, no, not in all Israel." And to the Centurion He said, " Go 
thy way ; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." 
And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour, and when 
those that had been sent returned to the house, they found the 
servant whole that had been sick. 

114 




CHRIST AND THE CENTURION 



ANOINTING THE FEET OF JESUS. 




N one occasion, a proud Phai'isee, whose name was 
Simon, invited Jesus to eat with him. But the 
invitation was a cold one. There was no kiss of 
w^elcome, no water to bathe His hot and dusty feet, no 
perfumed ointment for His head: nothing but a bare 
admission to a vacant place at the table was granted to Jesus. 
But there He reclined, His left elbow resting on a cushion, 
and His feet projecting beyond the edge of the couch. 

Now it happened that a poor, sinful woman was passing, 
who, discovering that Jesus Avas in the house, timidly entered, 
and stood behind Him. She had an alabaster box of ointment, 
and, as she looked on Jesus, she w^ept. Her tears fell upon. 
His feet; so, stooping down, she tenderly wiped them away 
with her long hair; then she kissed the Saviour's feet, and 
anointed them with the fragrant ointment. This was done as 
a token of respect and love. 

Bat an evil eye had noted the kindly act ; and the proud 
Pharisee thought within himself, if Jesus Avere the prophet 
He professes to be. He would certainly have known that the 
w^oman was a great sinner, and would not have allowed her 
to touch Him. But Jesus came to save sinners. He loves 
them, though He hates their sins. He rebuked the 
haughty Simon ; and showed him how he had neglected the 
commonest rites of hospitality towards his guest, while 
this poor woman had treated Jesus with the greatest 
reverence. Then Jesus said, '' Her sins which are many 
are forgiven, for she loved much " ; and He bade her go in 
peace. 

116 




ANOINTING THE FEET OF JESUS. 



THE RICH FOOL. 




HERE was a certain rich man who owned much land. 
And his fields and vineyards were so productive that 
when the time of harvest came, he had not room 
to store his corn and fruits. So after much thought 
he said, " This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build 
greater ones, and there will I store all my fruits and my goods. 
Then I can say to myself, 'I have great store of goods laid up, 
enough for many years ; now I can take mine ease, eat, drink, 
and be merry.' " 

But God said unto him, " Thou fool, this night thy soul 
shall be required of thee ; then whose shall those things be 
which thou hast hoarded ? " 

Jesus savs it shall be so with all those who set their 
minds upon storing up riches in this world, rather than 
laying up treasures in heaven by pleasing God and working in 
His service. Deatli will come when they least expect it, and 
they will have to leave all their earthly riches, and go where 
no treasure has been laid up for them. 

And He said unto His disciples, " Take no thought for 
your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye 
shall put on; for the life is more than meat, and the body 
more than raiment. For all these things do the nations of 
the world seek after, and your Father knoweth that ye have 
need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of 
God ; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear 
not, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the 
kingdom. Sell what ye have and give alms ; provide your- 
selves a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief 
approachcth, or moth corrupteth.'^ 

118 




THE RICH FOOL. 



THE UNFEUITFUL TEEE. 




CERTAIN man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, 
and he came and sought fruit thereon, but found 
none. Then he called to the gardener who attended 
to his vineyard, and said to him, "Behold these three years I 
come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none. Cut it down. 
Why does it encumber the ground ? " 

The gardener answered him and said, "Lord, let it alone 
this year also, till I shall dig about it and manure it. And if 
it bear fruit then, it is well ; but if not, then, after that, thou 
shalt cut it down." 

In this parable the vineyard means the world, and the fig- 
tree ungodly people whose lives do not produce good works — do 
not produce fruit in the service of God. The Lord of the vine- 
yard, that is, God, would destroy such people, but Christ inter- 
cedes in their behalf, that time for repentance may be given. 
" He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should 
come to repentance." Christ came and sought to change men's 
hearts, and make their lives fruitful for God. The warning has 
been given, and when the Lord of the vineyard comes again to 
seek good fruit the unfruitful trees shall be destroyed. 



Am I a barren tree, dear Lord? 

A cumberer of the ground. 
Oh ! give me grace to fruitful be, 

And in Thy work abound. 



120 




THE UNFRUITFUL TREE. 



SOWING THE SEED. 




SOWER went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed 
some fell by the wayside and was trodden down, and 
birds came and devoured it. And some fell upon a 
rocky place, where there was not much soil, and as soon as it 
sprang up it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And 
some fell among thorns and weeds, and they sprang up with it 
and choked it. But other fell on good ground, and sprang up 
bearing ears, some with thirty, some sixty, some a hundred 
seeds. 

When Jesus had told this parable, His disciples asked 
Him to explain it to them. He said that the seed is the Word of 
God. The wayside signifies the people who hear the Word but 
do not understand it, and Satan comes and takes all thought of 
it out of their hearts as quickly as the birds devour the seeds. 
The rocky places without much earth denote those who, when 
they hear the Word, receive it with great joy and profession of 
faith ; but it never takes deep root in their hearts, and Avhen 
they are tempted they fall away and the good seed in their 
hearts is withered up. The thorns and weeds are the pleasures 
and riches of this life, which root so deeply and strongly in 
men's hearts that the good seed has no chance, and is soon 
killed off. 

But the good ground is the hearts of good people, who 
remember God's Word and try, every day of their lives, to do as 
He wishes us to do, and to live holy and useful lives. The seed 
falling upon their hearts becomes strongly rooted and grows up 
vigorously, bearing good fruit. 

What shall be said of your heart, my young friend ? Is it 
like the wayside ? the rocky x)lace ? the thorny ground ? or like 
a good field that has been well prepared for the seed ? 

122 




SG-WfNO THE SEFD. 



THE ENEMY SOWING TAEES. 




CERTAIN man sowed good seed in his field, but in 
the night, whilst men slept, his enemy came and 
sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 
When the wheat-blade had sprung up and showed 
the ear, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the 
householder came to him and said, " Sir, didst not thou sow good 
seed in thy field? Whence then come these tares? " 

He said unto them, '' An enemy hath done this." Then 
the servants asked, " Shall we go, then, and gather them up? " 
But he said, "Nay, lest whilst you gather up the tares, you root 
up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the har- 
vest, and in that time I will say to the reapers, 'Gather ye 
together first the tares and bind them into bundles to burn them, 
but gather the wheat into my barn.' " 

Jesus' disciples asked Him to explain this parable to them, 
and He said: "The field represents the world, and He that 
sowed the good seed is Christ Himself. The good seed is the 
Word He preached; the wheat plants are the good people 
who believe in Christ and do as He teaches. The enemy 
who sows the bad seed is Satan, and the tares that spring 
from them are wicked people Avho follow the promptings of the 
evil one in their hearts. The harvest is the end of the world, 
and the reapers are the angels of God. As therefore the tares 
are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the 
end of this world with wicked people. Christ shall send forth 
His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all 
things that offend and them that do evil, and shall cast them 
into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing 
of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the s-un 
in the kingdom of their Father." 



" For tlie Lord our God shall come, 
And sbnll take His harvest home ; 
From His field shall in that day 
All offences purge away,; 



" Give His angels charge at last 
In the fire the tares to cast, 
But the fruitful grain to store 
In His ixarner evermore." 



124 




THE ENEMY SOWING TARES. 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEX 




HRIST said that the kingdom of heaven could be likened 
nnto leaven (or yeast), which a woman took and hid 
in three measures of Hour, till the whole was leavened. 
Now, this leaven, or yeast, is comj^osed of tiny little 
plants, each one so small that it cannot possibly be seen by 
the sharpest eye except through a very powerful microscope. 
So small are they that it would require three thousand of 
them, placed close together, side by side, to make up the 
length of one inch. Like all other plants they require food, 
and they find this in the dough they are placed in. You 
know that all things are made up of atoms of chemical sub- 
stances so wonderfully blended together that only the chemist 
can separate them, and when he has separated them they 
appear very different. Well, in Hour there are certain things 
so blended, and the yeast-plant takes one kind of substance 
as food, and in doing so sets free another substance called 
carbonic acid gas. This gas bubbles up and makes the 
heavy dough spongy and light. If it were not for these tiny 
bubbles oi' gas your bread would be as heavy and close as 
suet pudding. This is the reason why yeast is put into 
dough for making bread or cake. One of the most I'emark- 
able things about this yeast is, that when it gets into any 
substance that contains its food, it at once begins to give 
off buds, which, in a few moments, become full-sized and 
break away. So rapid is this increase, that if a single yeast- 
plant were to be put into a great mass of dough it w^ould very 
quickly leaven the w^hole mass. 

And so it is with the love of God. When once it gets into 
our hearts it will keep on growing until all our life is filled with 
it, and we try in all things to please Him. 

120 




THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 



SEEKING FOR HIDDEN TREASURE. 




HE people of Canaan, both in ancient and modern 
days, have made a practice of hiding their treasures. 
This they have done to secure them in times of 
danger. When invaders flocked into the land, the people 
buried their gold and jewels, and fled. And often they died, 
or were ovei'taken by their enemies and killed, so that they 
w^ere unable to return and regain their buried liches. Earth- 
quakes also have taken place, destroying towns and villages, 
and burying all the riches in them beneath their ruins. 
Thus there is much hidden treasure in Canaan, and num- 
bers of the inhabitants spend their time seeking diligently 
and anxiously for it. 

Our artist show^s us a man who is thus seeking. He has 
heard that in old times a great treasure was hidden in a 
particular field. So he digs away patiently in various jjlaces 
until, at last, he finds out that what he heard is quite true. 
He is sure the treasure is there; and his desire is to become 
possessed of the field, so that he may obtain the buried riches. 
He is willing to sell all that he has if by so doing he may buy 
that field. So he hastens home, and gathers together the whole 
of his property and sells it. Then he takes his money to 
the man who has the land for sale, and buys the field of 
him. Thus he becomes possessed of the treasure he has 
sought after. Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven is 
like that treasure. It is so precious, that when a man finds 
out its value, and knows how it can be obtained, he will be 
willing to give up everything he has for it — all his companions, 
pleasures, sins, riches — indeed everything he possesses, in oider 
to gain this great treasure. 

128 




THE TREASURE HID IN A FIELD 



THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 




ERY similar to the parable of the Hidden Treasure is 
this one of the merchant seeking goodly pearls. 

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a mer- 
chantman seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one 
pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought 
it." 

In the picture we see the merchant on the sea-shore, 
where he has waited for the landing of these sailors from 
another country. He asks them if they have any goodly pearls 
for sale, and one man opens his box and takes out this " pearl 
of great price." It is just the kind of pearl the merchant had 
been seeking, so he quickly produces his two bags of gold 
and offers them to the man for his pearl. But the man smiles. 
"What! part with so large and so beautiful a pearl for two 
bags of gold? " He could not think of it. The peai'l is again 
placed in its box, and the' merchant has to go away dis- 
appointed. But the longing to have that pearl is too great. 
A thought occurs to him. He will go home and sell all that 
is his, and the money he shall thus obtain, added to his two 
bags of gold, will surely buy the precious jewel. 

And so it is with men w^hen they seek that pearl of pearls, 
the forgiveness of God. They will give up a great deal in 
order to obtain it, but they find that God requires them to give 
up everything that is sinful or worldly. And if their hearts 
are really set upon obtaining it, they will do as this merchant 
did, and part with everything that would hinder them from 
coming to God, or walking in the way that leads to heaven. 

130 




THE MERCHANT SEEKING GOODLY PEARLS. 



THE PARABLE OF THE NET. 




HESE fishermen have just returned to shore with their 
net full of fish. JSTow this is not a casting-net, which 
is thrown out from the boat and drawn in again, 
but a drag-net which is of great length, and which is drawn 
constantly through the water until it is well filled with fish. 
It is then hauled up to the shore, and the fishermen sit around 
it, and take out the fish. Many of these, of course, are unfit 
for food, or not liked. They cast those into the sea again, but 
the good fisli which they can sell for food are carefully placed 
in vessels brought for the purpose. 

Christ said, " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, 
that was cast into the sea, and gathered every kind (of fish) : 
which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and 
gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So 
shall it be at the end of the w^orld: the angels shall come forth, 
and sever the wicked from among the just, and cast them 
into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing 
of teeth." 

At another time Jesus taught His disciples the same 
truth ; when He spake of His coming and of the gathering of 
all nations before Him, the good entering into eternal life, but 
the wicked being cast away. ''When the Son of Man shall 
come in His glory," said Jesus, ''and all the holy angels with 
Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. And 
before Him shall be gathered all nations ; and He shall separate 
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from 
the goats. And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but 
the goats on the left.", 

132 




THE PARABLE OF THE NET. 



THE MAN POSSESSED BY DEVILS, 




NE day Jesus came with His disciples in a boat to 
tlie country of the Gadarenes, near Galilee. They 
landed near the tombs, that is, caverns cut into 
the rock, where the dead were buried. And there 
met them a man, who, for a long time, had been possessed 
by many unclean spirits. He lived in the tombs and wore 
no clothes. He had been so fierce and wild that his friends 
had been obliged to chain him up, but he had burst his fetters, 
and the devils had driven him out to the tombs. 

Jesus bade the unclean spirits to come out of the man. 
And when the man caught sight of Jesus, he cried out, and 
fell down before Him, saying, "What have I to do with Thee, 
Jesus, Thou Son of God most high? I beseech Thee to 
torment me not." 

And Jesus asked him his name. And he said, "Legion,'^ 
because many devils were in him. They besought Jesus 
that He would not make them go into the sea, but would 
let them enter into a herd of swine that were feeding on the 
cliffs close by. He suffered them to do so, and the devils 
went out of the man and entered into the pigs, and the 
whole herd ran violently over the cliff into the Avater and 
were drowned. And when the herdsmen saw what was 
done, they fled into the city and told all the people. Then 
the people came out to Jesus, and they saw^ the man that 
had been possessed, clothed and in his right mind, sitting 
at the feet of Jesus. And they that had seen it told them 
by what means the man had been healed, and they were 
afraid. The man out of whom the devils had departed, be- 
sought Him that he might stay with Jesus, but He sent him 
away, saying, "Keturn to thy house, and show what great 
things God hath done unto thee." And he went his way and 
published throughout the city what great things Jesus had 
done unto liim. 

134 




THE MAN POSSESSED BY DEVILS. 



CURING THE INCURABLE. 




ESUS went into Capernaum, followed by a great crowd 
of people, and among them was a woman who for 
twelve years had suffered from a disease which no 
doctor could cure, though she had consulted many, and spent 
all lier wealth upon them. She had said within herself, "If I 
could but touch His garment 1 should be made well." So she 
pressed through the crowd, and put out her arm and touched 
the hem of His garment, and immediately she was made well. 

Then Jesus, turning round to His disciples, said, "Who 
touched Me?" But they all denied that they had done so, 
and Peter and they that were with him said, "Master, the 
multitude throng Thee and press Thee, and yet Thou sayest. 
Who touched Me!" They Avere suri)rised that Jesus should 
nuike such an enquiry, seeing that so many were crowding 
round Him, and pressing against Him. But Jesus said, 
"Somebody hath touched Me, for I perceive that healing virtue 
hath gone out of Me." 

When the woman saw that Jesus knew what ^he had done, 
and that she could not be hidden in the ci'owd, she came 
trembling, and, falling down before Him, she declared unto 
Him before all the people why she had touched Him, and 
liow she had been healed at once. And He said unto her, 
"Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee 
whole. Go in peace, and be healed of thy iUness." 

Jesus wishes us to trust in Him. We suffer from a terrible 
disease — the disease of sin, which no doctor can cure ; but 
Jesus will heal us and take away our sin if Ave trust in 
Him. 

136 




CURED BY TOUCHING HIS GARMENT. 



JAIEUS' DAUGHTEE. 




AIRUS was one of the rulers of the Jewish church, or 
synagogue, and he had a daughter who had been very 
ill and was now at the point of death. She was an 
only daughter, and was twelve years of age. So hearing that 
Jesus was near, he came to Him, and, falling down before Him, 
implored Jesus to come and see her. 

And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did His disciples. 
Soon there came running to them a messenger from the ruler's 
house, who said to Jairus, "Thy daughter is already dead; 
do not trouble the master." But when Jesus heard it He 
turned to Jairus and said, " Fear not. Only believe, and she 
shall be restored to life." 

When they came to the ruler's house they saw the 
minstrels and many people who were making much noise and 
lamentation for the dead girl, as was the custom. Jesus said 
unto them, "Make way; weep not, for the maiden is not dead, 
but sleepeth ; " but they laughed Him to scorn, knowing that 
she was dead. And He put them all out of the room, all but 
Peter and James and John, and the mother and father of the 
maiden. Then He took her by the hand, and called to her, 
saying, "Maid, arise." And her spirit came again, and she 
arose straightway ; and He commanded her parents to give her 
food. 

Her parents were astonished when they saw their daughter 
raised to life and able to eat, but Jesus charged them that 
they shoidd tell no man what He had done. But the fame 
of the miracle He had wrought went abroad unto all that 
land. 

138 



^^^HiiffiliMPiai 
iBi^iisiii™Kii 




JAIRUS DAUGHTER 



THE TWO BLIND MEN. 




HEN Jesus had left the house of the ruler Jairus, 
there followed Him two blind men. They called 
out to Him, "Thou Son of David, have mercy 
upon us." 

Then Jesus looked at them, and asked if they really 
believed that He had power to cure them and give them 
back their sight. And they said unto Him, "Yea, Lord." 
Then He touched their eyes, and said unto them, "According 
to your faith, so be it unto you." And immediately they 
opened their eyes and were able to see. Jesus charged them 
to let no man know what He had done. But wlien they 
were departed they spread His fame abroad over all that 
country. 

Another time Christ and His disciples were coming away 
from Jericho, followed by a large crowd of people. And 
there was sitting by the wayside a blind beggar, Bartimeus 
by name ; and when he heard the noise of the multitude, 
he asked what it meant. They answered him, "Jesus of 
Nazareth passeth by." Then he cried out in a loud voice, 
saying, "Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me." 
The people tried to keep him from calling out, but he would 
not be quiet. He was determined that Christ should see 
him. And Jesus stood still, and commanded them to call 
him. So he arose and cast away his outer garment and 
came to Jesus. When Jesus asked what he would have 
done to him, he answered, "Lord, that I might receive my 
sight." And Jesus said imto him, "Go thy way; thy faith 
hath made thee Avhole." And he received his sight at once, 
and followed Jesus, praising Him. 

140 




THE TWO BLIND MEN. 



FEEDING FIVE THOUSAND. 




NE day Jesus went on board a ship and sailed to 
another part of the coast, where He and His dis- 
ciples might have rest. For the people in the 
cities crowded them so closely that they did not even have 
time to eat. They landed, and went into a desert place; 
but the people had seen them depart, and marked which way 
the ship sailed. Then they all flocked out of the cities and 
came on foot to the place where Jesus was. When Jesus 
saw Avhat a great number of people had come, He had 
compassion on them, and spoke to them, and healed their 
sick. But in the evening the disciples came to Jesus and 
said, "This is a desert place, and the day has gone; send 
the people away, that they may go into the villages and buy 
food." 

Jesus was too kind to send them away hungry like that. 
He said, "They need not depart; give ye theiii food to eaf 
But they said to Him, "We have here but five loaves and two 
fishes, which we have just purchased of a lad." He said, 
" Bring them to Me." Then He told the people to sit down on 
the grass ; and He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and, 
looking up to heaven, blessed them and broke them into pieces. 
The disciples carried the bread and fish to the people and they 
all ate and had plenty, although there were about five thousand 
men, besides w^omen and children. And yet, w^hen the disciples 
took up the fragments that were left, these fragments filled 
twelve baskets. How kind w^as Jesus! He not only taught 
the people and healed their sick, but He fed them when out in 
the desert place and hungry. 

142 




FEEDING FIVE THOUSAND. 



CHRIST WALKING ON THE SEA. 




HEN the people had seen the miracle that Christ did 
in feeding so many with so few loaves, they felt sure 
that He was one of the old prophets that had come 
again, and they would have taken Him by force to make Him 
king. So He sent His disciples by boat towards Capernaum, 
and He went, alone, up into a mountain to pray. 

When it was dark, the disciples found themselves alone 
upon the sea, opposed to strong winds, which tossed the boat 
upon high waves. Then Jesus went out to them, walking upon 
the waves ; but when the disciples saw Him they thought it 
was a spirit, and cried out with fear. But Jesus said, "Be of 
good cheer: it is I; be not afraid." Peter answered Him, 
saying, "Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the 
water.'' And He said, " Come," and Peter stepped over the 
boat's side and walked on the water towards Christ. But when 
he saw the angry waves around him and heard the roaring of 
tlie winds, Peter was afraid and began to sink. He cried out, 
"Lord, save me." And Jesus, stretching out His hand, caught 
him, and said, " thou of little faith, why didst thou fear? " 

When Jesus and Peter had got into the boat, the wind 
dropped, the sea became calm and the waves still, and immedi- 
ately they were at the place where they wanted to land. Then 
they worshipped him, saying, "' Truly Thou art the Son of God." 
And they came into the land of Gennesaret, where the people 
knew Him and brought to Him all that were sick, or blind, or 
lame, that they might touch His garment and be made well. 

144 




CHRlbT WALKING ON THE SEA. 



THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. 




ESUS came unto the borders of Tyre and Sidon, where 
the people were not Jews, but Gentiles. And there 
came to Him a woman of Canaan, who cried out to 
Him, saying, " Have mercy on me, Lord, Thou son of David ; 
my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." She besought 
Him to cast out this evil spirit from her daughter. But He 
answered not a word, and His disciples counselled Him to send 
her away. Then He told her He was not sent unto the Gentiles, 
but unto the lost sheep of Israel; meaning the Jews. This 
was said to try her faith. Then she came and worshipped Him, 
saying, " Lord, help me." But He said, " It is not meet to take 
the children's food and to cast it to dogs; " meaning that His 
help was due rather to the Jews than to the Gentiles. And 
she said, "Truth, Lord, yet the dogs sometimes eat of the 
crumbs w^hich fall from their masters' table ;" meaning that, 
though she was a Gentile, she believed in Him as the Son of 
God." 

Then Jesus answered, and said unto her, " woman, great 
is thy faith ; be it unto thee even as thou desirest. Go thy 
way ; the devil has gone out of thy daughter." And w^hen she 
was come to her house she found her daughter made whole and 
laid upon the bed. 

Jesus, with His knowledge of our hearts, knew the faith 
this poor woman had, and tried it so that it might shine the 
brighter. Then He granted her the blessing she had asked 
Him for; and how she must have rejoiced when she reached 
home and found her daughter quite well and restored to her 
right mind. 

14G 




THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. 



PETER AND THE TRIBUTE-MONEY. 




T was a part of the Jewish Law that all strangers 
passing among the Jews should pay to the priests of 
the Temple an offering to the Lord, or tribute-money 
as it was called. 

Soon after our Lord's Transfiguration He came to Caper- 
naum, together with His disciples. When they had entered 
the city, there came to them the priests who usually collected 
this tribute-njoney, and they said unto Peter, " Doth not 
thy Master pay tribute?" And he answered, "Tes." But 
when they had come to the house, Jesus said to Peter, 
"What thinkest thou, Simon? Of whom do they take tribute; 
of their own people or of strangers?" And Peter answered 
Him, "Of strangers." 

Jesus saith unto him, "Then their own people are free; 
but lest we should offend them by not paying, go thou down 
to the sea, and cast in thy hook and line, and take up the 
first fish that taketh the hook into his mouth. And Avhen 
tlioii hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money 
there. Take it and give it unto the priests as tribute for Me 
and for thee." And Peter went down to the sea and cast in 
his line, and took a big fish. And when he had opened its 
mouth he found the i)iece of silver, and took it to the men 
in payment of the tribute. 

This tribute was collected to pay the expenses of the Temple 
worship. Jesus sought to show that, as He himself was the 
Son of God, the King for whose service the tribute was paid, 
He might justly be exempted from paying it; yet to save giving 
offence He mii'aculously provided the piece of money to pay 
tribute for Himself and Peter. 

148 




PETER AND THE TRI BUI E-MONEY. 



THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 




S Jesus was talking to His disciples, a certain lawyer 
stood up and asked, "Who is my neighbour? " And 
Jesus answered by telling them this story : — 

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to 
Jericho, and fell among thieves, who robbed him, stripped him 
of his clothes, and, wounding him, left him on the road half 
dead. By chance there cam6 a priest that way, and, as a 
teacher of religion to men, he should have stopped to help the 
poor man. Instead of this, he pretended not to see, and passed 
by on the other side of the road. Then there came by a 
Levite, who also, as an official of the church, should have given 
help. But he merely came and looked on the injured man, and 
passed on the other side as the priest had done. 

Afterwards there came by a Samaritan, and, w^hen he 
caught sight of the wounded Jew, he went over to him and was 
very sorry for him. Now the Jews hated the Samaritans, aiad 
Avere their enemies, so that it would not have been surprising 
if he, also, had done as the priest and the Levite did. But, no ! 
Though it was his enemy, he could not pass him by and leave 
him on the road, perhaps to die. He examined his wounds and 
bound them up ; doing all that he could to soothe them. Then 
he lifted him carefully on his own beast, and brought him to the 
nearest inn, and took care of him through the night. The next 
day, when the Samaritan departed, he paid the man who kept 
the inn, and said to him, '' Take care of this poor man until he is 
well, and whatever it may cost for his lodging and food, that 
I will pay thee when I come again.'' 

"Which of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto 
him that fell among thieves?'' The lawyer answered, "He 
that showed mercy unto him." Then said Jesus, " Go, and do 
thou likewise." 

150 




THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 



IMPORTUNITY REWARDED. 




NE day Jesus was asked by His disciples to teach 
them to pray. So Jesus taught them the prayer 
we all know so well, beginning with " Our Father, 
which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.'' But Jesus 
told them it was not enough to pi'ay : they must not get 
tired of praying, even if they failed to receive quickly the 
things they asked for. They must keep on asking, until 
God in His own time and manner should grant them what He 
saw to be good. This great lesson Jesus taught them by the 
following parable : — 

"Which of you shall have a friend," said Jesus, "and 
shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend 
me three loaves, for a friend of mine in his journey is come 
to me, and I have nothing to set before him ? And he from 
within shall answer and say. Trouble me not, the door is now 
shut, and my children are with me in bed ; I cannot rise and 
give thee. I say unto you," said Jesus, "though he will not 
rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his 
importunity (continued asking) he will rise and give him as 
many as he needeth." 

Then Jesus told His disciples, and He tells us too, "Ask, 
and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, an(\ 
it shall be opened unto you." For, said He, "every one that 
asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him 
that knocketh it shall be opened." If we ask for those things 
that God sees to be good for us, we may certainly expect to 
receive them. Let us ask God to keep us every day ; and to 
give us such things as He knows will be for our good. 

152 




IMPORTUNITY REWARDED, 



THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT. 




CERTAIN King took account of his servants and began 
to reckon what they owed him. And there was' 
brought to him one that owed him nearly te7i million 
dollars. But as he had not the money to pay, the 
King commanded that he should be sold, together with his wife 
and children and everything that he had, that payment might 
be made. Then the servant fell down before the King and 
worshipped him, saying, " Lord, have patience with me, and I 
will pay thee all." Then the King had compassion on his 
servant, and loosed him, and forgave him his debt. 

But when that servant had gone out from the presence of 
the King, he found a fellow-servant who owed him a little over 
fifteen dollars, and he laid hands on him and seized him by 
the throat, saying, " Pay me that which thou owest." And his 
fellow-servant fell down at his feet and implored him, saying, 
''Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all." And he 
would not have patience, but cast his fellow-servant into prison 
till he should pay the debt. 

When his other fellow-servants saw what had been done 
they were very sorry, and came to their King to tell him all 
about it. Then the King called the unmerciful servant to him, 
and said, " thou wicked servant ; I foi'gave thee all that 
debt, because thou desiredst me. Shouldest not thou also 
have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity 
on thee? " 

And the King was wroth, and delivered him up to the 
tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 

So likewise, says Christ, shall our Heavenly Father do also 
unto us if from our hearts we forgive not every one that tres- 
passes against us. 

" Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against ws." 

154 




THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT. 



THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 




N one of His beautiful parables, Jesus compares Him- 
self to a shepherd. " I am the good shepherd/' says 
He, "the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep/' 
And Jesus tells how the hired servant who cares for nothing 
but his wages, runs away when the wolf comes ; but how the 
faithful shepherd, when robbers threaten his flock, or wild 
beasts attack them, defends his sheep bravely, often laying 
down ^liis life for their sake. Jesus also speaks of how the 
shepherd knows his sheep by name ; and how, when he goes 
befoi'e them, they will follow him, because they know his voice, 
but that they will not follow strangers. And the Bible, speak- 
ing of Jesus Himself, says, ''He shall carry the lambs in His 
bosom," or His arms, like the kind shepherd is doing in our 
picture. 

Now, why does Jesus call Himself the "good shejoherd,'' 
and the Bible speak of Him as carrying the little lambs? Is it 
not because He loves us ; because He knows each one of us ; 
because He gave His life for us when He died on the cross, and 
has gone to heaven showing us the way thither; because He 
calls us to follow Him ; and because He is so willing to lead 
even the tiny ones, and shield them from harm, just like the 
good shepherd carries the poor wee lamb ? But Jesus asks one 
thing of us in return for all His kindness and care, and that one 
thing is our love. Are we giving Him our love now? Are 
we asking Him to lead us, and keep us safe from harm ? May 
we seek to follow Him and to know His voice. 

156 




THE SHEPHERD AND 'IHE LAMBS. 



THE LOST PIECE OF MONEY. 




ESUS had been preaching to a crowd of publicans and 
sinners. The publicans of those days were the col- 
lectors of taxes for the Romans, and it was a 
constant complaint against them that they exacted more from 
the people than they had any right to do. So they were looked 
upon as wicked men, although they were not all bad. Now 
the Scribes and Pharisees, who made a great show of religion, 
so far as outward forms went, were greatly shocked at seeing 
Christ sitting with publicans, and said, " This man receiveth 
sinners and eateth with them." 

Then Jesus asked them, "What man of you, if he has a 
hundred sheep, and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety 
and nine in the wilderness, and go after the lost one, until he 
has found it? And when he has found it, he lays it upon his 
shoulders and takes it home, rejoicing; and calls together his 
friends and neighbours, saying unto them, 'Rejoice with me, for 
I have found my sheep that was lost.' 

'' I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over 
one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just 
persons which need no repentance. 

" Again, what woman if she has ten pieces of money, and 
loses one, does not light a candle, and sweep the house, and 
seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, 
she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ' Rejoice 
with me, for I have found the piece of money which I had 
lost.' 

''Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of 
God's angels over one sinner that repenteth." 

158 




THE LOST PIECE OF MONEY. 



THE PRODIGAL SON, 




CERTAIjST man had two sons, and the younger of 
them said to his father, '' Father, give me the portion 
of thy wealth that would fall to me at thy death. '^ 
He did so, and a few days after the younger son gathered all 
his wealth together and journeyed into a far country. Theie he 
met with evil companions, and wasted his money in riotous 
living. When he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in 
that land, and he began to be in want of bread to eat. So 
he went and hired himself to a man of that country, who sent 
him into the fields to feed his pigs. And he was so hungry 
that he would have been glad to have eaten the coarse food sucli 
as the swine eat ; but no one gave it to him. 

His sufferings bi'ought him to his senses, and he thought 
how^ foolish he had been, for he remembered that his father's 
servants had food enough and to spare, whilst his father's son 
was perishing with hunger. He said, " I will leave this land 
and go to my father and tell him how I have sinned against 
heaven and him. I will tell him I am no longer worthy to be 
called his son, and vvill implore him to make me one of 
his hired servants^" And he arose and went towards his 
father's house, but w^hen he was still a great way off, his father 
saw him, and was sorry for him, and ran and embraced him. 
Then he told his father how he had sinned and had lost his 
title to be called the old man's son, but the father was so glad 
to have his son come back repentant, that he told his servants 
to bring the best clothing and a ring to put on his son. And 
he made a great feast, and they were meriy, for he said, "This 

160 




THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL. 



is my son that was as one dead to me and is now alive again ; 
lie was lost and is found." 

But the elder son was very angry, and would not go in to 
tlie feast, but said to his father, " Lo, these many years have 
1 served thee, and never offended or disobeyed thee, and thou 
hast never made a feast for me and my friends ; but now this thy 
other son has come back, that has wasted thy wealth in riotous 
living, thou hast made a great feast for him." And his father 
said, " Son, thou art ever v^ith me, and all I have is thine. It 
is right that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy 
brother was as one dead to us and is alive again ; he was lost 
and is found." 



PETERS WIFE'S MOTHER CURED. 




FTER Jesus had left the Centurion He w^ent to the 
house of his disciple Peter, and there He saw Peter's 
wife's mother, laid on a bed, sick with fever. And 
He took her by the hand and lifted her up. The fever left 
her and she was cured. She rose up from her bed and attended 
upon them. 

That evening, when the sun was setting, they brought to 
Jesus all those that w^ere ill, and many that were possessed 
with devils. And He cast out the devils by His word, and 
healed all those that were sick. 



"At even, ere the sun liad set, 

The sick, Lord, around Thee lay; 
Oh, in what divers pains the^'' met. 
Oh, with what joy they went away ! 

162 




PETER S WIFE S MOTMKR. 



THE UNJUST STEWARD. 



SEE where the steward, worldly wise, 
With wicked cunning in his eyes, 
Shows his lord's dehtors how to cheat 
His master of his oil and wheat. 

" A hundred measures dost thou owe 
Of oil? My friend, 'tis scarcely so: 
Here, take thy bill and quick indite 
Fifty : that puts the matter right." 

"A hundred measures is thy debt 
pf corn ? My friend, thou dost forget : 
Here, take thy bill, and write fourscore ; 
Surely thou owest nothing more." 

Thus wickedly he would provide 
Houses in which he might abide, 
When for his former acts unjust 
He from his stewardshijj was thrust. 

And when his master heard, he smiled, 
Though of his goods he was beguiled : 
Nor did he e'en forbear to praise 
The crafty foresight of his ways. 



The children of this world, alas! 
The children of the light surpass, 
In planning methods to provide 
For ills from which they cannot hide. 

And so our Master bids us take 
The mone}^ which He gives, and make 
Friends with our riches for the dny 
When earthly treasures flee away. 

That when we leave our house below, 
And into unknown regions go, 
Through Jesus, we may find above 
An everlasting home of love. 

Do I my little store expend 
For such a wise and prudent end ; 
Or only think of my own gain, 
And not of others' want and pain ? 

Lord, by Thy Spirit, make me wise 
Above my selfishness to rise. 
And something daily give away 
To find again in Thy great day ! 



Richard Wilton, M. A. 



164 




THE UNJUST STEWARD. 



THE EICH MAN AND THE BEGGAR. 




HERE was a certain rich man who was clothed in rich 
silks and fine linen, and feasted on costly food each 
day. There was also a poor beggar, wdio w^as ragged 
and hungry, and covered with sores. His name was 
Lazarus, and they laid him at the lich man's gate, for he 
desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the w^ell- 
supplied table. And even the dogs had pity on him, for they 
came and licked his sores. 

And it came to pass that the beggar died, and the angels 
carried him away to heaven, where he was no longer clothed 
in rags, but in glorious array. Neither w^as he hungry, for he 
sat with Abi'aham and leaned upon his bosom. 

The rich man also died, and Avas buried. He was not 
carried to heaven, but went to a place of torment, where he 
lifted up his eyes, and in the distance saw Abi*aham with 
Lazarus on his bosom. And he cried and said, "Father 
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may 
dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue ; for I 
am tormented in these flames." But Abraham said, " Son, 
remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, 
whilst Lazarus had only evil things; and now he is comforted, 
and thou art tormented. Beside all this, between us and you 
there is a great gulf fixed." 

Tlien said tlie rich man, " I pray thee therefore, father, 
that thou wouldest send him to my father's house ; for I have 
five brethren. Let him go to them and testify unto them, 
that they may repent, lest they also come into this place of 
torment." Abraham said unto him, "They have Moses and 
the pi'ophets; let them hear them." And he said, "Nay, 
father Abraham : but if one went unto them from the dead, 
they will repent." But Abraham said, " If they hear not 
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though 
one rose from the d6ad." 

166 



tf;^ 




THE RICH MAN AND THE BEGGAR. 



^^AVEJSTGE ME OE MY ADVERSARY. 




N a certain city there was a judge who neither feared 
God nor cared for man. And in the same city there 
was a widow that had an enemy, and he had done 
her an injury. And she came to the judge and implored him, 
saying, " Give me justice ; avenge me of my adversary." But he 
would not. Then the widow came to liim every day and cried, 
"Give me justice;'' but still he would not for a long while. 
At last he became wearied of her constant cry, and he said 
within himself, "Though I fear not God nor care for man, yet, 
because this widow troubleth me with her complaint, 1 will 
avenge her; lest by her continual coming she weary me.'' 

And Jesus said, "Hear what the unjust judge saitho 
And if he, who was an unjust judge and a wicked man, would 
grant the widow's petition, because she asked so often, will not 
God, who is good and just, give His childi-en what is good and 
right for them ? Shall not God avenge His own elect, which 
cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with 
them?" 

In this parable Jesus impressed upon his disciples the 
truth that, although great trials might come upon them, and 
their lives be in peril, yet they were not to lose faith in God, 
or be disappointed because their prayers were not answered at 
once. They were to keep on praying; asking God for such 
things as were right, and trusting that He would preserve 
them amidst all their enemies; and in His own way make 
them to triumph over their foes. Whatever is best for His 
people, God will give them. He cares for the sparrows, and, 
even more, for those AVho love Him. 

168 




THE UNJUST JUDGE. 



THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX-GATHEEER. 




|HE tax-gatherers in those days were called Publicans. 
They were reputed to be very unjust, exacting from 
people more than the law required them to pay, and 
other wickedness was charged against them. Of course, thei'e 
were good men among them ; St. Matthew was a tax-gatherer 
before Jesus called him to follow Him. The Pharisees studied 
the Scriptures and explained them to the people, but they did 
not follow the teachings of Scripture. They were proud, and 
pretended they were more religious than other men, but it was 
only pretence. Jesus compared them to whited sepulchres, and 
said they were hypocrites, who led the people astray. 

A Pharisee and a Publican went up into the Temple to 
pray. The Pharisee stood in a part of the Temple where all 
could see him, and prayed thus : " God, I thank Thee that I am 
not like other men, Avho are unjust, and who take more than 
belongs to them. I thank Thee that I am not like this Pub- 
lican. I fast twice a week ; I give to the priests and Levites a 
tenth part of all I possess." But the Publican, who knew that 
he was wicked, and felt sorry for it, stood afar off in a quiet 
part of the Temple where none would see him. He bowed his 
head and beat upon his breast, saying, "God be merciful to me 



a sinner." 



Jesus said that this Publican went to his home more for- 
given than the Pharisee, for every one that is proud and thinks 
much of himself shall be put down, and he that humbleth 
himself and is sorry for his sins, shall be exalted. "Blessed 
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," says Jesus. 

170 




THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX-GATHERER. 



THE LABOUREKS IN THE VINEYARD. 



"^0, work 
V_T bound, 



within my vine3'ard's 
'\sLallbe found:" 



At eve your penny 

So spake the vineyard's lord, and they 

Began to toil at break of day. 

For hours the sun had shown his face, 
When idlers in the market-place 
Once and again were sent within 
The vineyard's wall their wage to win. 

Nay, when but one short hour remains 
Before the sun its goal attains, 
More loiterers hear the Lord's com- 
mand 
And set to work with willing hand. 

The steward came at close of day 
Their wage to reckon and to pay ; 
And they whose toil could scarcely tire, 
Keceived a penn}^ for their hire. 

But the}' who the day's burden bore 
And noonday heat, expected more: 
And murmur'd that the generous lord 
To all one penny should accord. 

But he replied, " I wrong not you ; 

I give you the full wages due ; 

And why should you my bounty 

blame. 
In paying these beyond their claim ? " 



Lord, to Thy vineyard Thou dost call 
The least, the youngest of us all : 
To each Thou dost assign a task, 
From each some service Thou dost ask. 

How kind such feeble hands to use; 
Such pleasant work I needs must 

choose: 
I ask no wages. Lord, from thee, 
For Tliou hast given Thyself for me. 

When I remember all Thy grace, 
I cannot loiter in my place : 
And when I think of all my sin, 
Wliat wages can I hope to win? 

Thanks, Lord, if yet my years are few, 
And I retain the early dew: 
Oh, keep me through the noonday heat, 
And cheer me with Thy presence 
sweet. 

For if I have Thy presence. Lord, 
'Tis an exceeding great reward; 
And if at last I see Thy face, 
'Tis not of merit, but of grace. 

And, oh, what will that " penny " be 
Which Thou wilt then bestow on me? 
A glorious image it will bear, 
Thy own dear Self, Lord, will be 
there ! 

Richard Wilton, M. A. 



^ Tlie penny, or c?ena?-ius, was a silver coin, stninped with the irna<];e of the Honian Emperor, and 
worth about 16 cents of our money. ' It was a full ordinary day's wage at tiiat time. 

172 




THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD. 



THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 




N the morning, when Jesus had left Bethany and was 
coming towards Jerusalem, He was hungry. Seeing 
a fig-tree afar off, covered with leaves. He came to it, 
hoping to find some fruit on it. But the tree was a young one, 
and had not yet commenced to bear fruit. And He found thereon 
nothing but leaves. Then He said unto it, "Let no fruit grow 
on thee henceforward for ever.'' And the fig-tree withered 
away and was dead from the roots. When the disciples saw 
it, they marvelled, saying, " How soon the fig-tree is withered 
away ! '' 

Jesus answered, and said unto them, " Verily I say unto 
you, if ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do as I 
have done to this fig-tree, but, also, if ye shall say unto this 
mountain, ' Be thou removed and be cast into the sea,' it shall 
be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, 
believe that ye will receive them, and ye shall have them. And 
when ye are praying, forgive any that have injured yon, that 
your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your tres- 
passes against Him. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your 
Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." 

How strange it seems that Jesus, who was gentle and kind, 
should pronounce a curse on this fig-tree, and cause it to wither 
away. Why did He do so? Because He wished to impress 
upon His disciples the terrible danger of unfruitfulness. If we 
are the disciples of Jesus, we must bear good fruit ; we must 
be loving, kind, and gentle, and try, like Him, to be always 
doing good. 

174 




THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 



THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 




NE day when the priests and elders of the Temple 
were asking questions of Jesus, He told them this 
parable. 

There was a certain man who had a vineyard 
which was hedged or walled round, and had a tower. But he 
was going away into a country far off, so he let the vineyard 
to a number of husbandmen, or labourers, who were to give 
him part of the fruit of the vines. When the time had come 
that the fruit was ripe, he sent his servants to the husbandmen 
that he might receive his share. But the v^dcked husbandmen 
took his servants, and slew^ one, and beat another, and stoned 
the third. Then he sent other servants, moi'e than before, but 
the husbandmen served them as they had done the others. 
Last of all he sent his own son, saying, '' They will reverence 
my son." But when those wicked men saw him coming, they 
said among themselves, "This is the heir to all the vine- 
yard; come, let us kill him and seize on his inheritance." So 
they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew 
him. 

Then Jesus said to the priests and elders, '' When the Lord 
of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto these husband- 
men ? " And they answered, " He will miserably destroy those 
wicked men, and will let out his vineyard to others, who shall 
render him the fruits in their season." 

Li this parable the owner of the vineyard means God; 
the vineyard Canaan, and the husbandmen are the Jews, who 
had promised to obey Him, but had not done so. He had sent 
His prophets among them, to warn them, but these had been 
killed. At last He sent His only Son, but they would not own 
Him as such, and soon they would kill Him. When the priests 
heard this they knew it referred to them, and they were very 
angry and would have taken Him and killed Him, but they 
were afraid of the people, who took Jesus to be a prophet. 

176 




THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 



WITHOUT THE WEDDING GAliMENT. 




HERE was a certain King who gave a great feast uj^iyn 
the occasion of his son's wedding. And he sent out 
his servants to bring in those that had been invited, 
but they w^ould not come. Then he sent forth other 
servants, saying, " Tell them which were bidden, ' Behold, I 
have prepared my dinner ; my oxen and my fallings are killed, 
and all things are ready. Come unto the feast.' " But they 
made light of the message and went their ways, one to his 
farm, another to his warehouse ; others took the servants and 
slew til em. 

When the King heard what had been done, he was very 
angry, and sent out his army to destroy the murderers, and 
burn up their city. Then said he to 'he servants, "The 
wedding is ready, but they wdiich were bidden were not worthy. 
Go ye therefore into the highways, and all ye shall find, bid 
them come to the marriage." So they gathered together as 
many as they could find. And upon each one. as he entered the 
house, was put a beautiful nuirriage garment, wliich the King had 
})re])ared. But when the people were all seated, and the King 
had entered the house, he saw^ there a man that had not on a 
wedding garment, and he said unto him, " Friend, how camest 
thou in hither Avithout a wedding garment ? " And the man 
was speechless, for the garment had been offered to him at first, 
but he had refused it. Then said the King to the servants, 
" Bind him hand and foot, and take him away and cast him into 
outer darkness." 

In this parable, the King means God, who gave the feast 
for His Son, Jesus Christ. Those who were first asked were 
the Jews, who refused to believe in Christ. Those who were 
afterwards brought in, signify the people who have since listened 
to His Word, and believed in Hiui. The one without the 
wedding garment is any one that pretends to accept the invita- 
tion to be one of God's peoi)le, but in his heart does not believe 
in Christ. 

178 




WITHOUT THE WKDDING GARMENT 



THE FOOLISH VIRGINS. 




X certain parts of the East it is the custom for a man 
when he is mai'iied to bring home his bride at night, 
and for liis relatives and friends to go out with lamps 
and torches and music to meet him. 

Ten young women had been invited to meet the bridegrooni 
with their lamps burning and to sit down wdth him at the 
wedding-feast. Five of them were wise and tive were foolish. 
The wise ones took a supply of oil in case their lamps should 
burn out before the bridegroom arrived ; the foolish five took no 
oil but what was in their lamps. But befoie the bridegroom 
came they all fell asleep. 

At midnight there was a cry, "Behold, the bridegroom 
Cometh ; go ye out to meet him." But five lamps had almost 
burnt out, and the foolish virgins said unto the wise, " Give us 
of your oil, for our lamps are gone out." But the wise ones 
answered, " Not so ; lest there be not enough for us and for you. 
Go ye, rather, to them that sell, and buy ibr yourselves." And 
while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that 
were ready went in with him to the marriage-feast, and the 
door was shut. 

Afterwards, came also the other virgins, saying, "Loi'd, 
Lord, open the door to us." But he answered and said, 
" Yerily I say unto you, I know you not," and would not open 
the door to them. 

In this parable the bridegroom means Jesus returning to 
earth, on the Day of Judgment. The ten virgins are the people 
of tliis world, some of whom have their hearts full of the love 
of God and keep their lamps burning with a steady and bright 
light; that is, they fulfil God's commandments and obey the 
teachings of Chiist. The others- have not this love in their 
heaits, and ai-e not prepared for Christ's coming. Their lamps 
give out a feeble light and soon will go out. 

180 




THE FOOLISH VIRGINS. 



THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 




NE day Jesus told His disciples this parable or story. 
A certain nobleman was called away to a far 
country to be appointed king of it, and to return after 
a time. And he called his servants unto him, and 
charged them with the care of his goods and treasure, giving 
to each man according to his ability to use the same. To one 
servant he gave five talents, to another two, and to another 
only one. And straightway he left them, and departed upon 
his journey. Then the man that had five talents went and 
traded with them, and did so well that in time the profits- 
amounted to five talents more, making ten altogether. And 
he that had received two talents, also traded with his, and 
added two other talents to them by way of profit. But he that 
had had but one talent went away and covered it up in a cloth, 
and hid it away. 

After a long time the nobleman came back and called liia 
servants to him, and asked them for the treasure he had 
entrusted to their keeping. And he that had received five 
talents, brought ten, and said, "Lord, behold, I have gained 
five other talents beside them." And his lord said, "Well 
done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful 
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. 
Enter thou into the joy of thy lord." And to him that had 
two talents, and brought back four, the lord said the same 
w^ords. Then came he that had received but one talent and 
had hid it; and he said, "Lord, I knew thee that thou art a 
hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and I was^ 
afraid, and went and hid thy talent, and lo, here thou hast 
that Avhich is thine." His lord said unto him, "Thou 
wicked and slothful servant. Thou knewest that I reaped 
where I liad not sown ; thou oughtest therefore to have put 
my money in the bank, that I might have i*eceived mine 

182 




THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. 



own with interest for its use. Take therefore the talent from 
him, and give it unto him that hath ten ; and take the unprotit- 
able servant and cast him into the outer darkness.'^ 

Now the talent here mentioned was an eastern sum of 
money (nearly one thousand dollars), but it really means 
the powers and opportunities for doing good that God has 
given to all of us. One day we shall all be called upon to 
give an account of the talents entrusted to our keepiug, and 
woe be to those who have abused their stewardship by hiding 
their talent away. But those who have done good, according 
to the power and opportunity given to them, shall be received 
into everlasting joy by Christ the Lord. 



MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND. 




NE Sabbath-day Jesus went into tlie synagogue, and 
there He saw a nmn that had a withered hand. By 
some means the muscles had lost their powder, and 
he could neither use his hand nor stretch it out. 
And the Pharisees watched Jesus, to see if He would heal this 
man on the Sabbath, that they miglit bring a charge against 
Him of breaking the law. They asked Him, " Is it lawful to 
heal on the Sabbath-day?" and He replied by asking who 
among tliem, if he had a sheep which had fallen into a pit on 
the Sabbath-day, would not lay hold on it, and lift it out. 
" How much then is a man better tlian a sheep ? Whei'efore it 
is lawful to do good on the Sabbath-day." 

Then said He to the nmn, " Stretch forth thine hand." 
And he stretched it forth, and it was made Avhole and liealthy 
like the other. 

Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against 
Him, to consider how they might destroy Him ; but when 
Jesus knew it. He withdrew Himself from that part, and great 
multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 

184 



iiiiliiiiililii^i 




THE WITHERED HAND. 



JESUS ASCENDS TO HEAVEK 




ESUS had been cruelly put to death. His hands, 
which had been placed on the heads of little children 
when He blessed them, had been nailed to a cross 
of wood ; and cruel nails had been driven through his feet. 
And hanging on the cross, Jesus had died. But on the third 
day He had risen from the tomb, and for forty days He had 
remained upon the earth, meeting frequently with His disciples. 
At the end of that time Jesus led the eleven apostles from 
Jerusalem towards Bethany; and when near that village, and 
away from the multitude. He spoke to them, promising that 
they should be made bold by the Holy Spirit, and receive power 
to witness for Him both to the Jews and Gentiles. Then, the 
Bible tells ns, "He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 
And it came to pass, while He blessed them. He was parted 
from them, and carried up into heaven." And as He w^ent up, 
a cloud received Him out of their sight. 

The apostles fell down and worshipped Jesus, looking 
steadfastly after Him as He went up ; and as they did so, two 
angels in white garments stood by them, and said, "Ye men of 
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? This same Jesus, 
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like 
manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Then the 
apostles returned to Jei'usalem. 

Yes, Jesus has ascended to heaven, and now He sits at the 
riglit hand of God ; but He tells us that He will come again, 
and take those that love Him to dwell with Him in His glorious 
home for ever and ever. "I go to prepare a place for you," 
Jesus says. 

186 




JESUS ASCENDING TO HEAVEN. 



THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER. 




jAUL and Silas were in prison. They had done no 
wrong, but wicked men had taken tliem before the 
magistrates; and the magistrates had caused them 
to be severely beaten, and afterwards had sent them to prison, 
where they were securely fastened in an inner dungeon, and 
their feet made fast in the stocks. This was a most painful 
position for Paul and Silas. But they w^ere not unhappy. They 
prayed to God, and sang praises to Him ; and they sang so 
heartily that the other prisoners heard them. It was midnight, 
and all was dark in the prison. But suddenly there was an 
earthquake; so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, 
all the doors were opened, and every one's bonds were loosed. 
All the prisoners might have run away had they been minded 
to do so. 

The keeper of the prison had been sleeping, but the earth- 
quake awoke him. When he saw the doors open, he sui)posed 
that all the prisoners had fled ; and knowing how severely he 
would be punished on that account, he drew his sword to kill 
himself. Paul kne\^ this, and called out loudly, " Do thyself no 
harm, for we are all here." Then the keeper, who but a little 
while before had cruelly treated Paul and Silas, came trembling, 
and fell down before them, and said, " Sirs, what must I do to 
be saved?" He was afraid because of his sins; and wanted 
to know how he might be saved from the fearful consequences 
of sin. Paul's answer was, ''Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and thou shalt be saved." Then Paul and Silas spoke to him 
about Jesus. He believed, and was baptized ; and the next 
morning the two disciples were set at liberty. 

188 




THE PHILIPPIAN JAILOK BEFORE PAUL AND SILAS. 



TIMOTHY AND HIS MOTHER EUNICE. 



5 



IMOTHY was a youthful and earnest disciple of Jesus 
Christ, whom Paul loved dearly. Paul had found him 
during one of his missionary journeys, and, discovering 
how highly he was esteemed as a Christian, had selected him as 
his assistant. Afterward Timothy became Paul's companion in 
travel, and the first bishop of Ephesus. While Timothy was at 
Ephesus, Paul wrote two letters to him. They are contained in 
the Bible, and are called the Epistles to Timothy. In them 
Paul says many kind and wise things, giving Timothy directions 
how to act in his high Christian office. But Paul also speaks 
of Timothy's early days, and of his mother and grandmother. 
These were both good women, who loved God, and diligently 
studied the Holy Scri])tures. The mother's name was Eunice. 
She was a Jewess. The scrandmother's name was Lois. Both 
loved the little boy Timothy, or Timotheus as he was called, 
and they sought to instil into his young mind and lieart 
the love of God and the knowledge of His holy Word. In 
our picture w^e see Eunice teaching her son. She has not a 
bound Bible, but a manuscript, wound round small rollers. 
From this she reads to Timothy ; wdiile Lois, the aged grand- 
mother, sits by. 

Paul warned Timothy not to forget the teaching of his 
good mother and grandmother ; and especially to value his 
knowledge of the Scriptures. Because, said Paul, "they are 
able to make thee wise unto salvation." Many young folks 
have good mothers and grandmothers, who love to teach them 
about Jesus. Are they receiving this teaching as Timothy did, 
and being made wise unto salvation ? 

190 




LOIS, EUNICE AND TIMOTHY. 



CHRIST BLESSING THE CHILDEEK 

(See page 102.) 




ESUS had left Galilee, and was journeying toward Jeru- 
salem, where He was to be put to death. He was in 
the country beyond Jordan, called Peraea, and had 
been speaking some very wise words to the Pharisees, and also 
to His disciples, when some women came to Him, bringing 
infants and young children that He might put His hands upon 
them and pray for them. The disciples thinking probably that 
Jesus, who had so many important things to attend to, would not 
wish to be troubled by women bringing their children, rebuked 
them for so doing. But Jesus loved children. So, when He saw 
the disciples about to send them away. He was displeased ; and, 
calling the disciples to Him, He said, ''Suffer little children to 
come unto Me, and forbid them not : for of such is the kingdom 
of God." Then, we are told, Jesus " took them up in His arms, 
put His hands upon them, and blessed them.'^ How kind was 
Jesus ! and how willing that the little ones should be brought 
to Him ! And He is the same now\ May all our young readers 
learn to love Him, and find for themselves how willing He is to 
love and bless them. 



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